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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29544201">A Dangerous Game of Duck, Duck, Goose</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lovely_Shine/pseuds/Lovely_Shine'>Lovely_Shine</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Unlikely Friendship Between A Duck and A Pig [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dream SMP - Fandom, DreamSMP, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>ALtaDoodler, Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But not main focus so not put in relationship tags, Creeper Hybrid Sam | Awesamdude, Duck Hybrid Alexis | Quackity, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Enemies to Friends, Even In Death, Hybrid Alexis | Quackity, Hybrid Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Injured Quackity, Insane Jschlatt, Jschlatt is a bad guy, Karlnapity is a joke between them, Manipulative Dream, Mind Manipulation, Most of it is as a warning because of content revolving around Jschlatt and Quackity, Older Siblings Wilber Soot and Technoblade, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Physical Abuse, Piglin Hybrid Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Post-Butcher Army Arc on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Quackity can retreat into his head, Resurrection, Sam | Awesamdude is Alexis | Quackity's Parent, Soft Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), These tags turned this dark, Won't leave Quackity alone, Wow there's a lot more tags now, duck!quackity, implied jschlatt/quackity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:40:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>29,457</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29544201</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lovely_Shine/pseuds/Lovely_Shine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After Quackity loses one of his lives to Technoblade during the Butcher Army Arc, he is so badly injured he is forced to revert to his healing form, a small, harmless duck. Alex takes refuge in a house in the middle of snowy tundras, soon realizing he stumbled into his enemies house. But when Technoblade, unaware of who the duck is, doesn't throw him out and instead takes him in, caring for him and showing his soft side to the duck, Quackity realizes he was wrong about the man. After months of healing up, he can finally leave, but finds that he doesn't exactly want to. He felt safer here with Technoblade than he ever did anywhere else, especially when he was with Jschlatt. But when the spirit of the former president starts speaking to him again, he finds himself in a horrible game of Duck, Duck, Goose. Try to survive, don't get chosen, and if he is, run for his life. He has to choose, the man he's come to think of as a friend, or the man who still had so much power over him that he felt trapped in a cage, unable to spread his wings.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alexis | Quackity &amp; Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Unlikely Friendship Between A Duck and A Pig [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2171874</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>280</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>836</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A Snowy Refuge</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALtaDoodler/gifts">ALtaDoodler</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story is completely based off of the AU created by atladoodler on Tumblr, go check it out, it has stolen my heart.<br/>This is also my first piece for the Dream SMP fandom, so excuse mistakes as I'm not fully aware of everything going on within the SMP as of right now, and the story will mainly be centered around Technoblade and Quackity, and the main setting is Technoblade's house.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Quackity trekked on through the miles of snow ahead of him, far from any civilization, he thought. He was growing weaker the farther he travelled, but he couldn’t turn back, not yet. Shutting his eyes against the wind, Alex willed his wings to cover him, shielding his frozen body from the cool air. Shelter was what he needed, before he shifted in the middle of this storm and froze to death.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There! Up ahead! He could see the faint glow of lights through a window of a house. If he could just reach it, he’d be fine. He could explain to the person there what had happened and why he was in this snowy tundra with only a single life left to live. And yet, he had pushed himself too hard. His legs, sore and stiff, gave out from under him and his body crashed into the soft, white, deadly glitter that covered the ground. His blue tracksuit did nothing to keep the chill from sinking into his bones and rattling him to his core.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Speaking of bones, Quackity felt his shifting, silent tears filling his eyes as he grew smaller, his hair turned yellow, slowly forming feathers that covered his small, injured body. Now, left behind in the imprint of a man was a small yellow duck, shivering in the cold and accepting their fate of death.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alex had just drifted off to what he believed would be his last sleep when a shadow fell over him. The figure stared down at the helpless animal and muttered something about the cruelty of man before bending down and scooping it up in one calloused hand. They held the duck close to their chest and headed to the house, which happened to be their own. The last thing the duck really registered was the sound of a crackling fire, and the heat it provided.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When the duck stirred, it fluffed up it’s feathers, slowly taking in it’s surroundings. It was in a house, sitting in a chair next to a burned out fire, a few tendrils of smoke all that remains from the once mighty blaze that had warmed the duck and it’s saviour.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His saviour, Quackity thought, suddenly realizing he wasn’t sitting in the chair, but on the chest of the PERSON in the chair. He turned around and found himself beak to snout with the very man he had been trying to get far away from.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Technoblade stirs, grumbling and making the small duck on his chest shake from the vibrations. When he opened his eyes and saw the fluffy little bird was awake and staring at him, he let out a soft.. chuckle?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Glad to see you’re ok, little guy. I was worried you weren’t gonna make it there for a second. The snowy tundra is no place for a little fella like yourself.” Technoblade told him, gently picking Quackity up and bringing him into the kitchen, where he was set on the counter as the piglin began searching cabinets and chests for food, setting to work on making a pot of mushroom soup. The smell of it was enticing, and Quackity found himself waddling closer and nearly falling as he stepped closer to the stove, being saved by a pink, hairy arm keeping him safe. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Careful, buddy, the fire is dangerous, wait for me to finish cooking then you can have some. You’re probably starving, after being abandoned in the blizzard like that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alex stared up at the man who he had lost his life too, remembering the ugly marks that covered his face for the rest of time, marks that matched mangled feathers and a broken beak in this form.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Once the soup was done, Technoblade put some in a small bowl and set it next to the duck, making a bowl for himself afterwards and leaning against the counter, eating the food and watching the small duck drink the broth and fluff their feathers out in content from the warm liquid, only just becoming aware of how hungry he was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why would someone leave such a small creature to die like that? Makes my blood boil… ugh! But don’t worry, Little Duck, I’ll take care of ya.” Technoblade told the small bird, chuckling as it turned to face him, staring at him as if it understood what he was saying. “Yeah, you heard me, duckie. I’ll keep ya, might be nice, having some company.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Oh Technoblade now had company alright. As soon as the Piglin hybrid had brought him back to the living room before stating he needed to go out and meet with someone, ‘an old friend’, he had said, putting emphasis on the old as if it was a running joke for something, and shutting the door behind him, Quackity forced himself to use the little strength he had regained to transform back into a human, entering panic mode.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ok.. it’s ok, Alex… You’re just suddenly becoming roommates with the very mad who you’re supposed to want dead!” He reasoned, hand lifting up as soft fingers grazed the new scar on his face, his touches as light as the feathers on his wings.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His stomach growled, reminding him that he was still starving. Strange new roommates aside, if Quackity wanted out of here alive, he was going to have to rebuild his strength… and Technoblade makes one hell of a mushroom stew.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Time to Migrate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Quackity has started to become more comfortable around Technoblade, developing a sense of peace. And yet, just like all birds during the winter season, Quackity's fortune decides to migrate south, as he once again finds himself on Death's doorstep. But this time, he isn't allowed to leave unaffected, for the door is now open, and someone inside is wanting out, ready to claim control over the duck Hybrid once more, but will he realize exactly what's going on before it's too late to stop Jschlatt?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>CHAPTER 2, GUYS!! Thank you so much for all the support the first chapter got, and this one is a bit longer than the first, exceeding 1,000 words this time! I hope you all enjoy, and once again don't forget to check out ALtaDoodler's AU on Tumblr, which inspired this fic in the first place!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>By the time Techno had come home again, Quackity had scoped out the house layout, searching for hiding spots and escape routes should things turn sour and Technoblade revokes his kindness from the duck. Speaking of duck, that was the very form he was in when the Piglin hybrid had returned home, curled up on a pillow in front of the failing fire for even a slice of warmth to scare off the chill trying to settle into his bones.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Technoblade stares at the small duck, noticing it shiver. His features softened as he quietly put more logs into the fire pit, stoking it until the flames began to grow again, casting the room in gentle glows of red, orange, and yellow, and the small duckling’s shivers resided. He watched the bird sleep, smiling as they tucked their beak under a small, soft wing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m gonna need a name for you little guy…” Technoblade spoke out loud, no one around to hear him except for the sleeping animal. “And not a stupid name like Quackers.. How about.. Bartholomew?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As he said the name, the duck stirred, lifting their tiny head to stare up at him, tilted slightly to the side as if in consideration. And then it quacked. Bartholomew it was, decided by a quack that was rather abnormal for a duck. His quack was unsteady, like he didn’t know how to properly do it, and that combined with Bartholomew’s mangled beak created an.. interesting noise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aren’t you a unique little birdie?” Techno cooed, seeming unbothered by his new friend’s inability to properly quack. “Want to know a secret, Bartholomew?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The duck stands up, spreading his wings out and ruffling them in a way that almost seemed like he was saying yes to Technoblade.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can’t oink, so we’re one in the same. You can’t quack and I can’t oink, a fine pair that we make, if I do say so myself.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And from that moment onward began Quackity’s new life as Bartholomew the duck. He began to see a side of Technoblade that was shown to no man or hybrid, except Philza. And speaking of Phil, he quickly became Technoblade’s go-to duck sitter when Technoblade didn’t bring Bartholomew places. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Did Alex forget to mention that he enjoyed messing with Phil’s mind. Not in a cruel, abusive way like Dream and Jschlatt had done to people, but in the harmless ‘am I losing my mind or just getting old’ way. And by that, he meant he became the physical embodiment of the Untitled Goose, being a pain in Phil’s ass whenever he was being watched by him. His favourite things to do were to take something Philza had put down and move it to completely new and random spots, or hide it until Phil began looking for it, only to place it back in the spot he had stolen it from.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Technoblade teased Phil over this once he was told of the moving objects, cracking senile jokes as he picked Bartholomew up and set him in the hood of his cloak for the travel home. Technoblade was always gentle with him, never raising his voice or trying to hurt him; Quackity grew comfortable in his presence, no longer scared of the Piglin Hybrid. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had tried to leave once, and only once. Technoblade had been asleep, and Quackity has long since overstayed his welcome. It had been months since he first shifted outside in the middle of a deadly blizzard in snowy tundra, miles from any sort of civilization except for that house that was just out of reach. Weeks upon weeks since Technoblade had found tiny little duck Quackity in the middle of a human shaped indent in the snow, curled in on himself and accepting death. Days since he had been brought into the home and saved by the very beast he had been trying to escape in the first place.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That failed departure still sung clearly in his mind, the rough, roaring winds that tore at his clothes as he tried to flee in human form, threatening to tear them away; the snow seemed to only swirl around Quackity, enveloping him in the unwelcomed arms of death and loneliness. He didn’t hear the sound of what seemed to be a wounded animal calling out into the night, the winds stealing the cries of ‘Bartholomew’ and taking them to the grave. The grave, which seemed to be where Alex was heading. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I shouldn’t have left</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he thought, taking an unsteady step forward before falling to his knees, the cold air sinking into his skin and finding home in his bones, wrapping him in a tight embrace and refusing to let go.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His body, already shifting into duck form from tiredness and the cold, collapsed onto its side. A single weak noise left the hybrid, that unique quack that Technolade seemed so fond of befalling deaf ears. This is how he died, after everything he had gone through, he was going to die because he couldn’t ever seem to stay when things are good. Alex wanted to cry, seeing his human self in his mind, curled up in the fetal position, lightly stroking the golden band on his hand, a band that had become a reminder of why he could never love or trust anyone. What a fitting way to go, alone and scared, soon to be reunited with his deceased husband who’s heart Quackity hadn’t even allowed decomposition to claim.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Something was above him, speaking in a rushed voice as he was lifted out of the snow and held close to a chest. The large saviour was warm, and he found himself pressing closer to that warmth as he was carried in the direction he had come from with lightning speed, all while rough yet worried affirmations of being okay fell upon his unhearing ears. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alex doesn’t know how he survived that night, barely remembering even the days after his failed escape. But Technoblade didn’t forget, remembering how he had awoken in the middle of the night from a strange sense of danger looming over him. He had gone check on Bartholomew, finding the little duck gone, and his front door cracked open. Techno never leaves his door open, it was too cold in the area to do so. Then he saw the footprints, and began piecing things together. Someone had broken into his home and stolen Bartholomew.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he found his sweet little duck outside in the storm, once again abandoned and left for dead, he saved his anger for later, scooping the poor bird into his hands and holding him close as he carried Bartholomew home, praying to whatever god was up there that they wouldn’t take his duck away from him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Coming so close to death once again seemed to have opened a rift between Quackity and the dead, for the duck, once he had recovered, began to hear things. They were soft words, whispers in the wind if you will, but they were there. In the quiet moments where he sat next to Technoblade while the Piglin read a book or worked on little hats for him, late at night when the rest of the world was asleep, and always in the faintest corners of his mind when he began to question himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And with the voice came the scent. The scent of alcohol that hung in the air around the duck, haunting him with memories of the last Hybrid he had cared for. Was this his punishment for turning his back on Jschlatt, or a reminder from the goat hybrid that he could never truly get away from him?</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Voice in My Head, The Man Behind Me in the Mirror</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Quackity quickly learns the voices name as more time passes, their words get to him. Sensing the unease in Bartholomew, Technoblade decided to bring him to the cities to visit Phil, instead of bringing Phil back to the snowy Tundra like he usually does.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Look, I wrote this in school and I'm too impatient to wait and set up an upload schedule, but Chapter 4 is also already written, this one is just to have a reason for Quackity to be in L'manburg for once, and the next one is soft, and Chapter 5 is started.</p>
<p>In all, I have nothing better to do in school, so I'll be working on this a lot. Sorry if there is any inconsistencies or errors, I am not up-to-date with the happening of the SMP or anything, so there will be possible errors.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“Dude stop! I built this place myself!” Alex screamed at the hybrid ram, watching as a pickaxe was lifted above their head, swinging down and digging into the walls of the building he had worked so hard to create for them. “JSchlatt, stop! I’m serious!! I’m Vice President, we’re supposed to talk about these decisions!” He cried out, anger swelling up in his chest, settling on him like a wall of bricks.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Dude, fucking stop!” Jschlatt turned to look at him, raising the pickaxe up to strike, and in a flash, he seemed to disappear, replaced by Technoblade, who ignored desperate pleas from the bird hybrid, swinging it down to his face, growling out the final words he would ever hear. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“You should’ve died in those blizzards, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Bartholomew</span>
  <em>
    <span>.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity cried out, jolting up from the floor in a cold sweat. He whimpered weakly, still shaking from the memories that plagued his sleep and resulted in nightmare-filled dreams.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looked around, letting out a sigh of relief as he realized Technoblade wasn’t home. Visiting Philza, he had said before kissing the tiny duck goodbye, promising to return soon and leaving food out for his pet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexis stood up on legs of jelly and stumbled into the bathroom, gripping the sink like it was a life line. He stared at his reflection, a dull grey eye next to a golden one, scars tearing at his mouth in forever painful reminders of why he couldn’t stay here. The beanie on his head was slipping off, so nimble fingers reached up and fixed it before gently pulling off the top of his tracksuit, revealing a white tank top underneath, and a pair of sunset golden wings, currently small enough to hide under the shirt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He filled a glass with water and took a sip, turning to look at the second mirror in the room, a full length one, and found himself choking on his drink, the glass slipping and crashing to the ground, shattering into a million tiny pieces. He stared at his reflection, searching for the sign of the ram horns he could’ve sworn had been hovering on the sides of his head.. The front door opened, and a voice cut through the silence, searching for a duck, not the human.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity shifted quickly after pulling his tracksuit back on, positioning himself on the sink counter, a guilty look on his mangled face of feathers when the Piglin walked in, Phil right behind him. They stared at the mess of glass and water on the ground, then at the duck. Alex braced himself to be yelled at, to be hit or threatened like he was so used to. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instead, Technoblade gently reached out and lifted him up in gentle hands, calloused from years of war and violence, yet felt as soft as a feather pillow when he held the duck. “Careful, buddy.. Did you accidentally knock the cup over?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll clean this up, Tech, did Bartholomew get cut by some glass?” Phliza asked, watching his son check for any injuries.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.. thank goodness.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“They don’t actually care about you. Who would? You’re a traitor, a liar, you turn your back on those who are only doing what’s best for you.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>The voice whispered in the duck’s ear, making him shudder and let out a meek quack as he pressed closer to Technoblade, trying to shut them out, to shut </span>
  <em>
    <span>HIM</span>
  </em>
  <span> out.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Leave me alone.. please.” Alexis begged as he lay on the pillow in duck form, willing himself to focus on the mental image of his human form, and the form of the ram hybrid that towered over him. Usually, he had a small image of a warm little room with a blazing fireplace keeping his human form from fading; with the ram here though, the fire was out, small tendrils of smoke lifting up off the charred logs that crumbled away, just like his sanity. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Aw, but Alexis, you were the one that let me in. And besides… I’m just trying to help protect you. You are my husband, after all, and Technoblade is just pretending to care.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re lying.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“He knows your secrets, Quackity. He knows it’s you, he knows what you did after my funeral, he’s just waiting, luring you into a false sense of safety, and when you least expect it, he’ll snap you in two!”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bartholomew startled awake, staring up at the Piglin who was kneeling next to him, smiling gently.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry, Bartholomew, I just noticed you were shaking, I was worried you were having a nightmare.. Haah, I’m getting old like Phil, thinking a duck has anything to have nightmares about.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘You’ve no idea, Technoblade.’ The hybrid thought, settling back down to get some more rest</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The day after he realized the voice was Schlatt, Quackity became a rather anxious duckling. He was always hiding in small places, quacking in surprise and fluffing his feather up when touched without warning, and he seemed scared of Technoblade for days on end.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alex didn’t want things to end. He wanted to go back. Back to when no alcohol scents hung in the air no matter how much Techno cleaned, before the voice intruded his life, whispering insecurities and warnings into his ears, back to when the only thing he worried about was whether Technoblade would find him out, or what hat he was being made next.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘This is your own fault, Alexis. You couldn’t keep your ass still. You let your fear drive you to leave, and now you paid the price. You allowed him in.. but how will you shut him out?’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He thought bitterly, standing on the kitchen counter while Technoblade prepared some meals for their lunch. The thing that jarred his thoughts was when he realized Techno was speaking, tuning in at the perfect time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thought we could head to the cities for a small outing. I bet you’re dying to finally see the rest of the world. You can meet Ghostbur and Tommy today!” He told the duck, smiling gently at showing him off to the others.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity simply quacked in response, waddling closer to hop onto an outstretched hand, hopping off after it was lifted to the Piglin’s shoulder, where he settled into place, watching the other hybrid put the sandwiches and snacks, as well as the two canisters and a small bowl for Bartholomew, into a basket.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sun was shining that day, and for once it wasn’t snowing! The duck quacked happily at how beautiful the tundras looked when they weren’t being plagued by storms.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah, yeah. You’ve never seen anything but blizzards in this area. It’s not always like that thought, Bartholomew. It can be beautiful.. Philza says the view from the sky is amazing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sky… He stood up and stretched his wings out, taking a step forward and bracing himself as he took off the shoulder perch..</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And fell face first into the snow. Loud laughter echoed across the empty biome, a deep, billowing laugh that would shake enemies to their cores, but would infect those who are friends and make them laugh too. Finally, he was scooped up and settled back onto the shoulder of the laughing warrior, embarrassed at his failure. He never tried to fly, not even in human form.. He couldn’t believe he couldn’t fly. It was supposed to be a natural instinct for him, wasn’t it? Maybe Philza could teach him somehow!</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. My L'Manburg</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Duck and The Pig reach L'Manburg, and Quackity slips away for some peace to shift and be human again, the voice of his ex silent for once, for some reason. Yet he is grateful, reuniting with his friends and finding a beautiful gift left in the spot his world had taken a down hill spiral from.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is being posted now, since I have a meeting after school for a club. But, soft chapter, Quackity and Co. Fox, Bee boy, Snappy, and Time-man are all thrilled to have him back, unaware that he is lying about where he's been. And another important note:</p><p>The engagement between Karl, Sapnap, and Quackity is a running joke where Sapnap jokingly proposed to Karl when Quackity was with them,  and Quackity joked about being lonely, starting the running gag of being enaged between the three of them. This is because I don't want the ship to overtake the original purpose for this fic.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Alexis was glad Jschlatt was silent when they reached the city, so he was able to enjoy a peaceful day for the first time since his failed escape. Technoblade was proud to have his duck with him, receiving a few stares and questions. Eventually, they reached Phil’s house and knocked on the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A blonde teenager answered, someone floating behind him and looking at them, faces splitting into grins, the blonde boy speaking first. “Technoblade! Dad, Technoblade is here!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phil came into view, smiling as his eyes landed on the small animal on his son’s shoulder. “You brought Bartholomew, wonderful! Tommy can stop bothering me with questions about him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yep, and I bring news about him.. It seems like Bartholomew is flightless.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s cute! Friend would love him!” The ghost piped up, flying over and spinning around them, reaching out to pet the bird, only for him to quack and move away, nearly falling off Techno’s shoulder in the process.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Careful!” The Piglin warned, holding him up and moving Bartholomew into his hands, setting him on the ground to wander around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They stayed in Phil’s house for a while, before Tommy left. When the teenager was leaving, Quackity took his chance to get away, slipping out the door between Tommy’s feet and hurrying around the side of the house and traveling a little ways away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he was a safe distance away, he shifted, feeling the usual weird sensation of bones stretching and growing, before he found himself in a human form once more. He stretched, feeling his back pop and wings puff, spreading out and catching sunlight, turning them a beautiful, shining gold.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, someone saw that gold while collecting wood, seeing the glint from a corner of his eyes and turning, signalling to his fiance to hold up. “Is that.. Karl, are you seeing that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The time-traveler lifted his head up, squinting as he stared where Sapnap was pointing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It looks like Quackity’s wings..” He replied, realization hitting him a second later. “It might be Quackity!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As if on cue, a spanish voice filled the air, singing gently as they worked on getting rid of the stiffness in it after so long of not speaking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hola, Delilah, ¿cómo es la ciudad de Nueva York? A mil millas de distancia, pero chica, esta noche te ves tan bonita.~</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two gatherers rushed forwards, knowing that voice anywhere and burst out from the tree line with shouts, startling their ‘fiance’. He yelped, turning as his wings caught the wind, lifting him up from the suddenness and sending him sailing backwards a bit before he managed to tuck them away and drop back to the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“K-Karl, Sapnap!” Alexis cried out, running to meet them and being enveloped into a hug by them, burying his face into Sapnap’s neck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my gosh, where have you been!? You’ve been missing for almost two months, Alex!” Karl exclaimed, pulling back to look at him, cupping his chin and staring at the damage on his face. “What.. What happened to you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pico.. Pickaxe. I got into a disagreement with Technoblade and..”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You lost a life?” Sapnap finished, staring at him as he nodded, looking down at the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pretty ugly looking, huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Far from it.. Where have you been?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was.. Fleeing.. Trying to get away from everyone for a while to think things through and I got lost…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Karl nodded thoughtfully, staring at the hybrid and then at Sapnap, suddenly clapping his hands together. “Why don’t we go to our house and catch up on what’s going on, we can make you something to eat!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O-oh.. no thank you, I’m not hungry… I was hoping to just walk around and make sure this place hasn’t changed too much since I left!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You do realize what place you’re talking about, right? This place is always changing!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.. it is..” Quackity replied, staring at them as they dragged him through the forest and back into the city, smiling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They brought him to see Tubbo, which resulted in a lot more hugs and a bit of crying on Quackity’s end. Tubbo was basically a son to Schlatt in a way, and that made him a son to Alex too. Watching the execution at the festival had hurt him a lot more than he let on. And when Schlatt died, Alex had sworn to take care of Tubbo, no matter the costs.. which meant taking out the Piglin who had hurt him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then there was Fundy, the fox hybrid smelling them before they even saw him. He came around a corner quickly, narrowly avoiding a collision with the group because of how fast he was walking. And once again Alex was sent into a talking frenzy of explanations and excuses for his absence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They all walked together, chatting and catching up like the old times, before the Butcher Army. As they walked, the boys pointed out new buildings or monuments, small changes and large decorations. Then, they reached where the white house once was, a small piece of land that had been turned into a flower garden in honor of Quackity after he had gone missing. Flowers with many shades of blue and yellow and white, while the ones on the edges were reds and oranges, like flames licking the cold hues of the inner ones, protecting them from the cruelty of the rest of the world, from the cruel events that had happened on this plot of land.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you think, Alex?” Karl asked gently, placing a hand on his shoulder and waiting for him to turn and meet his gaze. When he did, they saw the tears threatening to spill, the beauty and symbolism of the flower colors more important than they knew, and he wished he had both eyes intact to truly marvel in it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s beautiful, Karl.. thank you guys..”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Standing there, among the flowers of the field, Quackity looked out at L’manburg, and then looked behind him, in the direction of the snowy tundra, both places being home for half of the hybrid. Then he looked at the bustling going-ons of the city and the folks who lived there, a smile gracing his lips as he cried from the overwhelming sense of right in the world that washed over him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was warm, like the fires of Techno’s home, and the sun as they travelled the tundra. It was as soft as the hugs Alexis received from Karl and Sapnap, as gentle as the hands that held him, whether they were the hands of a Piglin, or hands of his best friends; bitter-sweet like his reunion with Tubbo, and as quick to arrive as Fundy when he latches onto a scent, determined to find the source.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t want it to end, but as the sun set, troubles would arise in the form of beasts, skeletons and zombies, creepers and spiders, and at that time, an old man would be forced to contain his hybrid son when they realized that a member of their party was missing, and the Piglin would tear the world apart to find.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Such a pity things could never stay the same, whether it was the cities or the people who lived in them, something was always happening.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. How Did I Get Here</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Quackity recalls memories of how things ll went down hill and how he came to this point in his life.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapter 6 is coming soon, but there will be a short break as I spend the weekend with family! Thank you all for the kind words and concern I've received, this fic definitely took off in popularity more than I ever thought it would so quickly, so thank you guys for the support!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Quackity laid in bed, listening to the gentle snores of his husband, trying to will himself to sleep. He hated this, the silent nights after arguments where Jschlatt would fall asleep and leave Quackity to handle his fear alone. But, Alex would rather these slow nights over the drunken ones, over the bottles smashing into walls, shards of glass raining down on him and getting caught in his feathers. He preferred not sleeping at all over falling asleep under a desk, or in the closet after managing to escape his drunken husband, who was searching for someone to take his anger out on. Small apologies would always be received the morning after either of these events, but Alexis soon learned that those apologies meant nothing in the eyes of Schlatt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the night faded to dawn, and the blazing colors of morning painted the sky, the smaller hybrid stood up and made his way into the bathroom, starting a shower and collecting some clothes. While he washed, he checked his wings, making sure no feathers were bent or damaged. Schlatt wanted them clipped, despite Alex telling him that they were useless unless he wanted to glide down from a high place or let the wind carry him. He couldn’t control where he went, couldn’t fly away even if he wanted too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was trapped, in a cage with no light and only one key. A key that was held tightly by his husband, and a key that he would never get his hands on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After the shower, Alexis dried off and got dressed, spending an unnecessary amount of time on fixing his tie before he pulled his beanie over his head. By this time, Schlatt was awake and in the kitchen, drinking away his issues once more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The smaller man tried to slip by unnoticed, but he should know by now that never works. A firm hand wrapped around his wrist and pulled him back, turning him around to face the ram hybrid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alex..” Schlatt began, ready to spew out nonsense apologies to his Vice President, only for the other to rip away, wings wrapping protectively around himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please don’t touch me right now… I’m not feeling well.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eyes softened as a hand cupped his cheek, rough thumb rubbing against the skin under his eye before Schlatt sighed and pulled him into a gentle hug, as if he wasn’t the reason Quackity wanted to be left alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, Schlatt pulled back and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Go get some rest, love.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hated this, hated him. Hated feeling too weak to do anything about the situation he was in. Quackity wanted nothing to do with his President anymore, all the joy he once had having been extinguished long ago, after that very first drunken fight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then there was the Festival. Alex has never been more terrified of Technoblade and Schlatt then in that moment, as the boom filled his ears, and not even his sunglasses protected him from the blinding light. Pain seared through his body from the heat of the explosion as his wings instinctively puffed up and wrapped around his body to defend himself, but it was useless. The force blasted him backwards, a wall rushing to greet him as a cry was ripped from his lips, feeling something crack as one of his wings ws twisted into an unusual angle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Quackity didn’t remember much other than jolting up in a bed, followed by the sound of screaming as Schlatt burst into the room, looking panicked as his eyes landed on his fiance. He had seem so worried about him, and had been gentle for a couple days as he helped nurse Quackity back to full health, never yelling or drinking, and only speaking in gentle, love-filled voices to the injured hybrid.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then it was the tearing down of the White House, the taunting, the cruel words, all of it, all of the things he had stayed silent about, everything he had ever done.. It had all been for the President that wouldn’t be in power if it hadn’t been for Quackity. That day was a blur, the notching of the bow, the harsh reality of it all. Jschlatt never cared about him, he only cared about the power Alexis had. The backlash from firing nearly made him fall over as his husband slumped to the ground, bleeding out. And then he ran, as far as he could. He found Tommy, revoked his loyalty to Schlatt, and joined Pogtopia. Things were looking up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And finally, the ambush, everyone surrounding Schlatt, armoured up and ready to fight, only for him to comment about toast and then die, a pitiful death for a pitiful man. A failing heart from months of alcohol consumption, and yet… Quackity had felt free. Free to spread his wings and soar, to enjoy the beauty of the world without a puppeteer leering over him, holding him tight in webs of strings and lies and pain. A netherite sword cut through the webs with ease, freeing him from his cage for once, and he flourished.. For a while.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He dug up his coffin, raiding it. Quackity didn’t want to let the Earth get the satisfaction of demolishing the former president. He didn’t know why he did it.. He had never thought of it before, but it had been so amazing, so delicious in the heat of the moment to sink his teeth into the organ that had been ruined by addiction. To continue on the next day like nothing had happened, the sickness that overcame him in the following week, unable to keep any food down. Quackity was disgusted with himself, horrified at what he had done, yet he felt no guilt about it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After all of that, he began to hunt Technoblade, ended up getting engaged to Karl and Sapnap, and then his death, two lives gone, both because of a blood-thirsty beast. He sought refuge, and then found so much more than a place to heal…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexis just wants a break.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Author's Words to the Readers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Me telling you guys a quick little bit of Info about things that I'm getting worked out for this story and some warnings for the upcoming chapters</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Hey guys! Please don’t skip this chapter, cause there’s some important things that are going to be discussed here, most of which pertain to this story. I am making/posting this because I have been planning out this story and I want to inform you guys of what’s going to be seen in the future, so you aren’t going in blindly. I will be discussing the updated tags as well as a possible uploading schedule, and some things that must be addressed before I post Chapter 6 of the story.</span>
</p>
<ol>
<li><span>I want you guys to know I’ve upped the rating for this story from Teen and Up to Mature, the reasoning behind this being that the future chapters will have some darker underlying tones that are there to help shape the story, but I don’t want to categorize it under something for teens because of what the content is, even if I don’t explicitly state the darker plot tones</span></li>
<li>
<span>I hate to ask this, but I want everyone who actively reads/keeps up with this story to take a moment and look at the tags. They have been updated, and you can tell there are now some very dark ones, such as </span><em><span>‘Emotional Manipulation’</span></em><span>, </span><em><span>‘Implied/Referenced Abuse’</span></em><span>, and quite a few others.</span>
</li>
<li><span>Before any of you jump at me about these, they have been added in thought of Jschlatt and Quackity’s relationship on the SMP. I thought about this for quite a while before ultimately deciding that ‘yes, I need to add these tags’. None of these tags are pertaining to Quackity and Technoblade’s relationships or interactions with each other.</span></li>
<li><span>Stating number 3 Again: The Darker Tags and Mature rating are because of Jschlatt’s involvement with the story, not because of Quackity and Technoblade’s future interactions.</span></li>
<li><span>These have been added not because I thought they’d be fun to have, but to protect YOU as a reader from any of the triggering content that will be present, if not directly noticeable. As an Author, I always make sure that I warn my readers of happening in my stories that would be triggering, and as I fleshed out the plan for this story more, I thought of how big of a role I wanted Schlatt to play, and how he does things with that role, thus the addition of the tags.</span></li>
</ol>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>With that out of the way, I also have a few other things I would like to tell you guys, pertaining to the story as well as a few semi-related things. First, an uploading schedule.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I’m sure you guys have noticed that I posted Chapter 1 and then 2 a couple days later, and then 3 later as well, then suddenly posted 4 the day after 3, and 5 the day after 4. This is because I have no real schedule with my stories, and I want to change that. From here on out if I can manage to keep myself consistent, A Dangerous Game of Duck, Duck, Goose will be updated once, maybe twice a week, as I plan out an updating schedule for all my stories.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I also want to announce that, besides A Dangerous Game of Duck, Duck, Goose, I have a request book called The Unlikely Friendship Between A Duck and A Pig, which is where you can request scenarios for the AU created by ALtaDoodler for me to write in between updates of A Dangerous Game of Duck, Duck, Goose. I already have the first requested story posted, and a second request in the works as well as my own little request to myself for something I wanted to write.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Finally, thanks. A thank you to everyone who has read, commented, given kudos to, and bookmarked this story. Your support means the world to me and truly gives me confidence as a writer and I can’t thank you enough.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>All that being said, please enjoy this story from here on out and be wary of possible triggering content.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chapter 6 will be posted an hour or two after this goes up, and that will be the start of the new scheduling updates for this.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Trapped With No Escape</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Technoblade confronts Karl and Sapnap, ruining the groups morning, and they realize Alex has fled. With the help of Fundy, they track him into the woods, where they find a certain little duck hiding inside a left behind beanie. With Technoblade now certain that Quackity was the man who left Bartholomew to die, then tried to steal him back twice now, he's out for blood, and it seems Alex isn't as in control of this situation as he had hoped. Speaking of which, Schlatt is done with Alexis being a child, as the duck finally faces him, and he uses his knowledge to his advantage, taking control of Quackity with well-phrased sentences and a facade of gentleness, officially locking his bird back up in their cage, determined not to let him escape again.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Longest chapter yet, I had a spur of inspiration, so I just had to type to get it out of my system. And I will say that I used Google translate at the end where they start speaking Spanish as well as when Quackity spoke to himself after waking up. what they say is:<br/>Quackity: Geez, why does everyone insist that it be a pillow for them?<br/>Schlatt: My little duckling.<br/>Schlatt: My beloved, Alexis.<br/>Quackity: Yes, I will.... my dear.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Alex woke up, he found himself sitting on the couch on Karl and Sapnap’s house, curled into the latter’s side and being squashed between them as they slept. Sitting on the floor and using his knees as pillows were Tubbo and Fundy, blankets draped over them. Speaking of blankets, Alex had one around his shoulders as he sat up, doing his best not to disturb Karl, who was sleeping pretty much on top of him. He finally managed to squirm away from the pile without waking the others after a hot minute, gently kissing Tubbo’s forehead like a parent would.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Caray, ¿por qué todos insisten en que sea una almohada para ellos?” Alex mumbled, walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge, pulling out a monster and opening it, not really caring who it belonged to. He takes a sip, unaware that he had woken someone up, until they approached him and wrapped their arms around him tightly, hiding their face into his back, startling him before he turned and saw brown tufts of hair from a short boy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Buenos dias, Tubbo.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Morning, dad..” The teenager mumbled, still half asleep as he leaned on his parental figure, not noticing the smile on his face as he was called ‘Dad’.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Behind him entered Fundy, stretching as his tail curled around his own leg. He stared at them, ears twitching in unease. “Someone is approaching the house, they don’t seem happy from the smell of it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll go see who it is.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Don’t. It’s the Beast, he’s looking for you.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity stiffened, not moving from his spot, shutting his eyes as the voice filled his head, biting down on his tongue and allowing his wings to wrap around himself and Tubbo, determined to protect the small boy from the older man.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A-actually… I’ll go wake Sapnap and Karl and let them deal with this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Get out of the house, Alexis.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> The voice demanded, growing angry as he walked into the living room and shook the other two adults.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Karl.. Sap, Fundy says someone is coming and that they’re angry, we need you to go check who it is and make sure they aren’t here to cause harm.” Alex told them, receiving grumbles and complaints from the two woken men.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Schlatt roared suddenly, scaring Quackity just as a fist banged on the front door. He tailed it to the kitchen while the rest of the house ran to the door to open it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just as he slipped through the back door, the front was thrown open as Technoblade’s voice filled the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where is he!?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Run, Alexis, get into the woods and shift.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alex followed the orders, Schlatt could see more of what was going on than he could. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As he disappeared into the trees, he ducked behind a bush to be safe, shifting into a duck. As he dove behind the bush, his beanie got caught on a tree branch and was pulled off his head, to his dismay. Alex wanted to grab it, hated being without the protective shield that hid his unruly hair, but a growl in his ear stopped him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“They’re approaching, don’t panic.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘Easy for you to say.’ He thought bitterly, feeling the ground shake from the approaching group, calls for Quackity and Bartholomew echoing through the trees.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When they came across the small duck, he was sitting on his beanie, curled up and shaking in terror, trying to hide inside it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Step out, go to the Beast. Pretend that you were taken by yourself.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He followed the orders blindly, a strange sense of familiarity in being ordered around by his former boss and ex. Technoblade’s anger quickly fades as he knelt to the ground and gently picked up the duck, holding him close and whispering reassuring words to the duck before turning to glare at Karl and Sapnap.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Quackity </span>
  <b>
    <em>stole</em>
  </b>
  <span> Bartholomew. And I don’t think this was the first time he’s tried to!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Woah, woah, woah! You can’t just blame Alex like that!” Sapnap snapped, growling and reaching down, snatching up the beanie and holding it close to himself, looking at Fundy. “Can you track Quackity down?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The fox sniffed Alex’s beanie for a second before lifting his nose in the air, taking in the scents of the surrounding area. Quackity waited with baited breath, his heart stopping as Fundy turned to gaze at the small duck, leaning over to sniff him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Apparently Technoblade didn’t like that, as he snatched Bartholomew away from Fundy and held him close to his chest. “Get the fuck away from my duck.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As he was held, Alexis noticed that Techno’s hands were clenching and unclenching slightly, as if he was restraining himself from doing something.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“He wants to squeeze you until you snap.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Schlatt commented, floating in a sitting position within Quackity’s mind, gazing calmly at the huddled form of his husband in amusement. “You’re lucky I was able to help you, Alex. He would have hurt you otherwise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The duck in Technoblade’s hands stilled, seeming to zone out like a human would, tucking their beak under a wing. Meanwhile, a very terrified human sat up finally to face the ghost. It’s not often that Alex retreats into his head when in duck form like this, but he was sick of Schlatt staring at his curled up form, sick of feeling weak and powerless under the ram’s gaze.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he lifted himself onto his feet, a rush of cold air wrapped around him, keeping the man still; as his eyes opened he found himself face to face with the ghost. A cold, dead hand reached up and grabbed his chin, sending shivers down his spine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“That’s a good boy, finally done pretending I don’t exist, Alexis?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> His face was devoid of emotion, but his tone said it all. He was furious with how Quackity had been acting, and the duck hybrid pulled his jacket farther around himself, shuddering as that hand on his chin moved up to cup his cheek, a thumb rubbing soft circles into his skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Why do you feel the need to ignore me, Alexis? I’m just trying to keep you safe. You know how much I love you, don’t you?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> He asked, smirking as Quackity shuddered again, tears pricking the smaller man’s eyes as he tried to back away.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Answer the question.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Schlatt snarled, his hand swiftly going from cupping his cheek to wrapping around his throat, annoyed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Y-yes! I know! L-Let me go, please!” Alex begged, struggling more, only to be pulled into a hug, the disgusting scent of alcohol and smoke filling his nostrils as his face was buried into a chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gentle hands combed through his hair as Schlatt began to whisper sweet, empty nothings to the duck, waiting. Waiting for him to give in, to stop fighting, to let Schlatt in. It wouldn’t take long, Schlatt knew how to play into Quackity’s weaknesses and fears to get what he wanted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I can protect you, Alexis. I can help you get your revenge on the Beast. That is what you want still, correct? To take back what the Beast stole from you?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Y-yes…?” Quackity replied with uncertainty, trying to remind himself who he was with, not to let his guard down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But then a hand gently pressed between his shoulder blades, between his wings in the one spot that could ruin him, and Schlatt knew this, grinning in triumph as the fight seemed to leave the human, his body slumping forwards as he put all his weight on his husband.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“They don’t care about you, none of them! I’m the only one who truly loves you, who understands you. When I took the White House down, it wasn’t to hurt you, but to make you stronger. You were scared, scared of revolting and standing up for yourself, I had to give you the strength to do it, even if it hurt me. All of this, the Elections, the Festival, the White House, it’s all been for you, </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>Mi pequeño patito</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That did Alexis in, that nickname, a nickname that had more power over him than he realized. He was a weak man, too scared to run from what was hurting him, too caught up in his mind to realize the cage he was being put in, too lost to bother with things as Schlatt turned the key and threw it away. Quackity was terrified of losing everything again, and Schlatt took advantage of that, telling him how he’d protect him, how he would help Alexis finally and truly be free. What a load of bullshit that was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Will you let me help you, </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>Mi querido</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span> Alexis?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Sí lo haré ... querido.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Quackity replied, too far in to turn back now. All he could hope is that someone, anyone saved him before he lost himself completely to the ram’s manipulation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alex was Goose now, and it was time to pick his victim. He would play with his food, let them think they can get ahead before he swooped in, just as they dove for safety. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Technoblade was going to die.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The Possibility of Ressurection</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Quackity and Schlatt talk some more before dinner, where Phil informs his children of a trip he'll be taking, which Technoblade seems admant on coming with and bringing Bartholomew.</p>
<p>(AwesamDAD coming in soon!)</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yell at me for lying about update schedules, I'm an impatient little shit and got a sudden surge of inspiration to write Chapter 8, and I want to post the two new chapters. To prove how much inspiration I suddenly got, Chapter 8 is officially the longest chapter I've written so far and has 3045 words. anyways, enjoy chapter 7, and Chapter 8 will be out either tomorrow or later today if my patience is not willing to show because of excitement and pride in chapter 8.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Quackity was brought back to Philza’s house, where Tommy and Ghostbur were waiting. Both of them shot up when Phil and Techno walked through the front door, the small duck being held tightly by the piglin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh thank goodness you found him!” Ghostbur exclaimed, circling around them excitedly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tommy held back, hands in his pockets as he kicked the ground a bit. “I’m really sorry, T.. I didn’t mean for him to get out when I left yesterday, it’s my fault..”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tommy, it wasn’t your fault, it was Quackity. Apparently he’s been trying to kidnap Bartholomew.” Phil told the blonde teenager, who stared at him in disbelief.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Big Q? Pfft, nah! He wouldn’t do that… would he?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know.. It is strange though. Quackity has been missing ever since his most recent death, and suddenly he pops back up at the same time Technoblade comes to town with Bartholomew… It’s suspicious.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity listened to them, waddling around Technoblade’s hands and quacking, wanting to be put down so he could put distance between them. Finally, he was placed on the ground, and he ran to the fireplace, curling up on the ground next to it to feign sleep while he retreats into his head once more.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Welcome back, dear.” Schlatt hummed simply as Quackity sat up, turning to stare at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He stared at the ghost, standing up and walking over slightly. “That’s not fair.. You can float and sit in the air and I have to sit on the ground.” He grumbled, crossing his arms as he glanced over at the dead fireplace, wishing it would come back to life and warm him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Schlatt rolled his eyes, staring at the duck hybrid and reaching out, wrapping his arms around the other’s waist and growling into his ear. “It’s your mind, not mine. You were the one who only put a fireplace in your mental space.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexis stiffened, his instincts making him squirm a bit out of fear of being so close to the other hybrid.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stop resisting. We need to discuss what we’re going to do to kill Technoblade, amour.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Isn’t there another way to get back what he took?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your lives?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean.. Yeah… I only have one left, I want to try and find a way to get my other two back, Schlatt.” Alexis explained, turning around in the other’s grip, pushing him back to look up and meet his gaze.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s only one person who could even begin to do that, Alexis.” The ram replied, rolling his eyes as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. “We would need to see Dream.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity froze, his hands curling into fists as he clutched Schlatt’s shirt, a slow exhale of air escaping his nose as he shook his head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That won’t be possible.. Dream’s locked up in my dad’s prison, there’s no way we could get to him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dream is in prison?” Schlatt mumbled, just as Technoblade’s voice filled his head. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bartholomew, wake up, I have some food for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity blinked open his eyes, looking up at the Piglin, and standing, shaking his feathers out and climbing into his hand as he was brought to the table, where a small plate of peas were waiting. The duck quacked happily, diving in to eat the food, realizing that he hasn’t eaten all day.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You must be starving.. Quackity probably didn’t feed you.” Techno muttered, sitting down next to Tommy as they all began to eat their own food.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Peas? Really Alexis?” JSchlatt’s voice muttered in his ear, making his feathers fluff up in fear from the suddenness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Poor fella.. He seems so scared, Techy!” Ghostbur commented, reaching out and lightly petting Alex’s feathers until they lowered down, smiling gently at the cute little animal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t blame him, this little duck has been through so much.” Technoblade replied, staring fondly at Quackity and making the duck hybrid’s chest tighten with guilt</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Boys.. I have something I need to tell all of you.” Philza suddenly said, looking at them as Tommy suddenly piped up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you dying?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The table burst into laughter, Phil shaking his head in amusement as he rolled his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I’m not dying any time soon, Tommy, but I am going to be going away for a while.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why, where are you going, dad?” Ghostbur asked, looking up from his seat at the table, not needing to eat like the other three.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sam has asked me to come to the prison.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“WHAT!?” A chorus of three voices shouted, all of them turning to stare at the eldest member of the household.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It won’t be for long, Sam just wants to talk with me about some things.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You aren’t going to the prison without me, Phil, Dream is there, remember?” Technoblade growled, hand curled into a fist as he stared at the hybrid.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity listened, staring at them and staying still. This could play out in his favor. If Technoblade demanded to go with him, Quackity could tag along and get access to Dream. He finished off his plate of peas while the others at the table began to argue about what to do.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re gonna go. Make sure you manage to go with them, Alexis, dear.” Schlatt told him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘Obviously,’ Alex thought, looking at Technoblade and walking over, nuzzling into the side of his hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Piglin smiled and lightly pet the duck, picking him up and pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. “Don’t worry, Bartholomew, I wouldn’t go to the prison without you. Look like it’s time for a road trip, eh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity internally cheers, seeing in his head Schlatt grin and cross his arms, nodding his head in approval.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s what I’m talking about. If this works, and he really can give lives back, we can resurrect me, and together, Alexis… We can take back control.” He said calmly, staring at the huddled form of Alex on the ground, the edges of him seeming to blur, as if he was slowly fading the more he stayed a duck, and the more Schlatt stayed with him, his humanity leaving him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ll be mine again soon enough.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. A Father always knows</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They arrive at the prison, Leaving Quackity with Sam to watch, yet Sam knows Bartholomew more than even Technoblade does somehow.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The prison was humongous, even Technoblade looking like a tiny ant compared to it. Speaking of the Piglin, he kept mumbling reassurances under his breath, but whether he was talking to Phil, Bartholomew, or himself, the duck had no idea.<br/>	It would be pretty pointless if the reassurances were for him, since Phil even pointed out how unphased the duck was. Sure, Quackity was intimidated, but not terrified; this place wasn’t something he should fear, unlike the rest of the people. He would always chuckle when his friends spoke about Sam, the Warden of this place, and had to resist the urge to tell them that Sam is nothing more than a big softie. Not like anyone would believe him.</p><p>	Phil knocked on the entrance of the prison, waiting for a minute before the sounds of pistons and gears grinding signalled the opening of the doors. As the walls seem to vanish and allow them entrance, the group was met by a rather intimidating looking hybrid.<br/>	Sam Awedude was a giant, standing at 6’7”, he towered over Phil and was a head or so taller than Technoblade. Hiding his face was a dark green gas mask, concealing his features, yet Alex knew what lied under it. Eyes as black as coal, completely unreadable if not for the tiny pinpricks of red, like a drop of blood welling up from a cut. Scattered across his face were shiny green scales, and hidden behind lips was a forked tongue. He was decked out in gold armour, a trident hanging on his back. Under the armour was his work clothes, a brown button shirt with sleeves that ended at his elbows under a forest green vest, brown leather gloves that were long enough to cover the parts of his arms the sleeves didn’t, and once again they concealed those scales that decorated his body. Sam also had on black pants, a permanent dusting of red covering them from countless hours fiddling with redstone and building contraptions.<br/>	Those dark eyes scanned over each of them in turn, Quackity being the only one to notice the hint of confusion as he turned to look at Technoblade; he was also acutely aware of Sam’s gaze lingering on himself much longer than necessary before he finally spoke, moving to let them enter.<br/>	“I thought it was just going to be you, Phil?”<br/>	“Well, that was the plan, but you know how my kids are. They refused to let me go without at least one of them for protection, and I don’t think Tommy or Wilbur would be the best bodyguards right now.”<br/>	Technoblade chuckled, jostling the tiny duck on his shoulders and drawing Sam’s attention, who gazed at the duck with an unreadable expression.<br/>	“Do you really think it was a good idea to bring such a small creature here? Especially if you’re going to be visiting Dream, who knows what he might try to do to the little guy.”<br/>	“Eh, it was the best possible option. Either bring Bartholomew, or risk Quackity kidnapping him again.” Technoblade replied smoothly, missing how Sam seemed to stiffen at Quackity’s mention.<br/>	“Still, Dream is a dangerous guy, and I highly doubt there won’t be an argument, or a fight, between you two. Why don’t I watch.. Bartholomew, you said it was?” He received a nod and continued, “Why don’t I watch Bartholomew while you join Phil for his meeting with Dream, and then me and Phil can have our own discussion.”<br/>	Technoblade glanced at Phil, who gave him a gentle nod, before gently picking up the tiny duck. He held Alex in his hands and gave him one of his customary rough forehead kisses and promised to be back soon before handing him to Sam.<br/>	“If anything happens to my duck, I will tear this prison to the ground with you in it, do you understand?”<br/>	“No harm will come to him while he is in my care, Technoblade.” Sam assured him, setting the duck on a nearby table before giving them a map and directions to Dream’s cell, as well as making sure that Phil could access the cell for the time being.<br/>	He waved farewell to them as the two figures disappeared around a corner, staring at where they had gone for a few minutes. Eventually, he let out a small sigh and reached up, fingers gently latching onto his mask and pulling it off, revealing the hints of a small smile on his face.<br/>	“Alexis Quackity Awedude…” The creeper hybrid hummed out, shaking his head with a gentle laugh rumbling his chest. “What in heaven’s name are you doing, son?”<br/>	He turned back to the spot where the duck had been placed, yet found himself face to face with an amused man, wings splayed out to the sides of him, and a twinkle in his eye.<br/>	‘His eye…’ Sam thought, taking in the damaged eye and the scars that decorated his mouth.<br/>	“Oh Alexis….”<br/>	“Hey, dad..” Alex replied sheepishly, cutting the older man off before he could possibly grow angry with his son and start yelling.<br/>	Instead, the man walked over, reaching Alex in two short strides thanks to his long legs. He stared at the boy in front of him, sitting on a table and swinging his legs back and forth like everything was fine. Quackity didn’t seem to realize his father had taken his gloves off until a slightly clawed and green-tinted hand cupped the good half of his mangled face, the other hand soon following suit as the two just stared at each other in silence.<br/>The creeper gently rubbed his thumb along the scar that covered his eye, feeling anger begin to swell up inside of him, letting out a low hiss that made Quackity flinch. The hiss died down rather quickly as soon as the duck showed fear, replacing his anger with concern. Whoever did this to his son could wait to feel his wrath later, but making sure his boy was okay was his top priority.<br/>“Alexis.. Duckling, what happened.”<br/>It wasn’t a request for him to tell, nor was it a demand somehow. Sam wasn’t asking him to spill his sob story, yet he never seemed to demand it either. Maybe that’s what had done it, the gentleness in the voice of the man who had given Quackity more than he could ever hope to repay him. The man who had stepped in when Alex was merely four and a street rat, living off anything he could get his hands on. At such a young age the world had already begun to show that it would not be kind to him. Quackity remembers the day Sam came into his life very clearly, that day changing his life forever and giving him a chance to survive; and yet Quackity had turned into something his father had done his best to protect him from.<br/>“Get back here you little brat!” The woman screamed at the young child. <br/>She snatched him quickly, him not being very fast to begin with. In his hands he clutched a bright red, expensive-looking purse, which she wrenched from his grasp and made him cry out. Quackity was let go of, and fell to the pavement, his already torn and tattered clothes becoming soaked as he landed in a puddle. <br/>Standing up quickly, a sudden harsh feeling flared up on his left cheek as his head shot to the side, stumbling. The woman lowered her hand, sneering down at the helpless hybrid child in disgust.<br/>“Pathetic piece of shit… Trying to steal from me, you deserve that slap, and a whole beating until you are begging for mercy.<br/>Oh he got that beating alright, but until years later and from his supposed-to-be husband.<br/>A kick to his side was delivered, the heel of her shoes digging into his ribs, which were more than visible in his thin, starved frame. Black hair hung over his face, shielding his eyes from the lady’s fury.<br/>“P-please….” Alexis begged gently, curled up on the pavement, voice hoarse and cracking as he tried not to cry, tried not to show weakness. “Please… Need money, no food..”<br/>“Aww, what’s wrong freak? Can try to steal a lady’s purse but not some actual food? God, you’re so fucking stupid, you can’t even speak properly, no wonder your parents abandoned you! Why don’t you do this town a favor and just die this winter already? The world is better off without freaks like you.” She sneered, unaware of the tall tower of a man that approached her, face shielded by his ever-present mask.<br/>“Excuse me, miss. Is this your child?” The stranger asked, receiving a harsh bark of laughter from her.<br/>“This pathetic waste of space? Heavens, no! I’d never have a hybrid for a kid.” She snickered, expecting him to laugh as well like most people did when they saw the tiny duck hybrid being beaten around.<br/>“If he is not your child, then you have no right to lay your hands on him the way you did. Hybrid or not, no child deserves that treatment; besides, the kid can’t help that he was born a hybrid.”<br/>“Are you kidding? The fucking brat is just a homeless street rat and a thief. If anything, he should be fucking grateful that I’m even punishing him for his wrong doings, so that he’ll actually KNOW something in th-”<br/>“Shut up.” The man snarled, sending her into an obedient silence from the tone of his voice. “Just shut the fuck up and listen, because I am only going to say this once.<br/>“This boy can not help that he was born a hybrid, or that he was left on the streets to be forgotten and die. He took the hand that this world dealt him and said ‘I’m going to survive’, even if it means having to lie and beg and steal. But you on the other hand, can help. You can help by trying to give this child a safer environment, and by the looks of it, you can spare more than enough money for this child to be able to afford some food. Yet it is ignorant and cruel people such as yourself that make it hard for hybrids to even truly enjoy who they are and the gifts the gods have given them. It is because of people like YOU that hybrids like him are abandoned and left for dead at such young ages. Fucking hell, I’m lucky enough to have made it this far in life!”<br/>A hissing sound filled the air, and dread filled the townsfolk. They knew that hissing sound, knew that it was the unique hiss of a very pissed off creeper. The woman cowered, fearing for her safety as she bolted away from the dangerous hybrid, more people following suit as to protect themselves.<br/>Once the street seemed to be abandoned, Sam approached the child, who stared up at him with fear and confusion inside his amber eyes. On his back was a set of filthy yellow wings, caked in dirt and feathers bent or missing. Sam’s heart broke at the sight of the child, who’s eyes were already devoid of that wonder only a child could possess.<br/>“Hey there, buddy… You’re ok, now, I promise. I’m not gonna hurt you.” The adult hybrid told him in a gentle voice that would eventually be the very voice that the child’s entire world would revolve around. “What’s your name?”<br/>“¡No me hagas daño, por favor! No quise quitarle el bolso, ¡pero no me hagas daño!” The young boy suddenly exclaimed, making Sam take a step back as he recognized the language as Spanish.<br/>‘That’s why he didn’t speak properly to the lady.. Poor kid must barely know English.’ Sam thought, suddenly feeling immensely grateful that he had decided to study other languages between his mechanic work.<br/>“Shhh, cálmate pequeño. No estoy aquí para lastimarte, estoy aquí para ayudarte. Le dije a esa mala dama que se fuera y me aseguraré de que nunca más te vuelva a lastimar. ¿Cómo se llama?” Sam spoke slowly, not the most fluent person, but knowing enough to hold a conversation.<br/>“Alexis… Alexis Quackity. How you know my words..?”<br/>Shock number, whatever number it is now, Sam has had plenty of surprises today.<br/>“You do speak English..?”<br/>“Si, not much. Overheard bits. Hard.” The boy, Alexis responded, curling farther in on himself as if shielding his broken form from view.<br/>“Well, you know what, Alexis? I’ll teach you English. And I’ll get you some clothes, food to put meat on your bones, a hot bath, and a warm bed for you to sleep in. How does that sound?”<br/>“¿Tengo que trabajar para ganarme eso, señor?”<br/>The creeper shook his head, gently reaching out and feeling a smile spread across his face as the boy scooted closer into his reach, allowing him to pick him up and hold the small duck against his chest.<br/>“No, never. You’re a child, you shouldn’t have to work to be allowed access to those things. By the way, my name is Sam, Sam Awedude.”<br/>Quackity’s eyes lit up, shock and amazement turning his dull amber gaze into one that melted the adult’s heart.<br/>“Blacksmith! Red dusty magic wielder!” Alex exclaimed, making Sam laugh and shake his head, wondering where the kid learned those words from.<br/>“I’m not a blacksmith, I’m a mechanic. And the red dust is called redstone, I use it on my inventions. Now come on, let me get you home.”<br/>“¿Hogar? ¿Mi casa también?” Alexis asked, hands curling into fists as he clung to Sam, already placing his complete trust in the man.<br/>“Yep, kiddo. Your home too now. And I promise that I will NEVER hurt you.”</p><p>Back in the present, Sam was still waiting for an answer from Quackity, letting him take his time getting lost in thought, hands still cupping the boy’s cheeks. When he saw Alex finally return to the present, a soft chuckle left his lips as he lightly rubbed his thumb across the duck hybrid’s face.<br/>“Alex…” He whispered, the final piece that broke the boy sitting on the table.<br/>Before Sam could process what was happening, Quackity went from staring at his dad with the fakest smile he had ever worn to flinging himself off the table and into the creeper’s embrace, burrowing his face into their neck as he began to sob. Sam’s instincts went into overdrive, arms wrapping under his son to hold him up as the younger man’s legs wrapped around his waist; he lifted one hand up and buried it into Alexis’s dark black hair. His heart shattered as he listened to the boy he raised bawl his eyes out like he was that scared little four year old all over again, waking up from one of many nightmares about Sam turning on him, Sam hitting and beating him, or worse, in the child’s mind, Sam dumping him on the side of the road and never looking back. <br/>He stayed silent, unsure of how to comfort his son in this moment, no idea of what he truly went through, so he stayed quiet, simply being there as a literal shoulder for Quackity to cry on. Occasional soft chirps would emit from the child in his arms, usually signalling that he was still beyond upset. And then finally, the sobbing stopped, Alex’s body no longer shuddering and shaking in his arms except when he took in a deep breath.<br/>Sam carried the duck hybrid into his personal area, setting him down gently on the couch and pulling back to stare at his son’s red, splotchy face. A gentle ‘my poor baby’ comes from Sam as he rubbed his cheek and gave him a small kiss on the forehead.<br/>“Lay down for a minute, ok Duckling? I’m gonna go get you some water and a slice of pumpkin pie and then we can eat. You don’t have to tell me what has h-hurt you this badly right now, but I want to know eventually.. Okay?” His voice cracked and trembled at the sight of his child, who looked like someone had taken all of his flames and snuffed them out with a single blow.<br/>Whoever caused his son this much pain was going to pay, even if it took Sam thousands of years to find them.<br/>	Returning with the cup of water and two slices of pie, Quackity sat up on the couch and moved to give his father room to sit down, waiting only a few seconds before cuddling up into his side and sipping the water he was gifted. They sat in silence for a while, Sam thinking of both what his son was going through, and why he was posing as a pet duck to Technoblade.<br/>	“How did you know it was me, Dad?” Alex finally asked, setting his plate in his lap and lifting his head to meet that dark, red stare his father had.<br/>	“I’ve seen you turn into a duck before, Alexis. You’re the only duck that I know that has trouble keeping balance on his left foot, and your right wing was shorter than your left, just like these ones. And besides.. a Father always knows his baby boy.” He explained, lightly grazing his hands over the soft feathers.<br/>	“... Thank you, dad.. For everything, I know I don’t make being an adoptive parent very easy..”<br/>	“Are you kidding? You made everything worth it. I wouldn’t trade you or George for the world, kiddo. I only wish I could have found you two sooner and protected you a bit more.”<br/>	“Dad..?”<br/>	“Yes, duckling?”<br/>	“... I love you.”<br/>	“Heh, I love you too, kiddo.” Sam whispered, smiling down at Alex and pulling him closer. “Finish up your pie and we’ll get you cleaned up, Phil and Technoblade won’t be done talking to Dream for a while, and we’ve already made plans for Phil to stay here for a few days, so that means you and Technoblade are too. I’ll convince Techno to let me take care of ‘Bartholomew’ while you guys are here so you can stay out of your duck form some more.”<br/>	“That sounds amazing… thank you, Dad.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Hold Me Close</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Quackity returns to duck form, and with the knowledge of what he's gone through, Sam wants to find a way to keep his son with him, while Philza and Dream discuss the possibility of resurrecting Wilbur. Things seem to be coming together for Schlatt, as Quackity returns to the comforts of home and is starting to realize that he needs to decide what to do, but that can wait. For now he just wants to be held by his dad for a bit.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey guys, new chapter and a note, I might not get the next chapter out for a while for the simple reason of my dumbass self went to pop my neck and ended up pulling my trapezoid muscle and really damaging my neck, from my back to the top of my neck, the entire right side of it was swollen. Luckily, I had a doctor's appointment today and my doctor specializes in dealing with that so she did the best she could but I have to take it easy for a while and can't stay hunched over a laptop for long times typing away when I get inspiration.</p>
<p>Yeah.. I'm accident prone.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Quackity stepped into the bedroom that Sam had brought him too about an hour later. He walked to the closet provided, feeling Sam’s gaze on his back, specifically his wings, as he pulled the door open and was greeted by clothes of many shades of blue, as well as a very similar beanie to the one he had lost. A smile graced his features as he picked the replica up and pulled it over his head, hiding his dark hair under it as a wave of peace washed over him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He examined the rest of the contents of the closet and settled on a dark, navy blue sweater and black sweatpants. Sam walked into the room finally and stepped closer to the avian, placing a hand between his shoulder blades and feeling the way his son tensed under his touch, retracting his limbs and staring in shock.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alex took a deep breath, trying to write off the sudden tension as he was caught off guard as that oh so familiar voice echoed in his ears and a ghostly hand grabbed his chin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Wow, so tense my dear…. Surely you don’t think your father would ever hurt you.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Schlatt purred as Alexis turned to face Sam, forcing a smile and muttering about needing a shower.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alex… I’m here for you if you need me, if anyone hurts you… I’ll help you.” Sam whispered, cupping his son’s face and staring at him, an unspoken ‘I love you’ travelling between them before Quackity breaks eye contact.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dad, as much as I’d love to stay curled against you all day, I really need a steaming shower.” He cracked a smile as Sam laughed, the father shaking his head in amusement.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No has cambiado ni un poco Alexis..” Same chuckled, receiving a light punch to the shoulder from the bird hybrid.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve changed a lot, Dad! I’m even cooler now!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two shared an easy laugh before Sam directed Quackity to a bathroom with a shower, promising to bring him some towels to dry off with. As soon as the door had shut and locked, Alex turned and gazed at himself in the mirror, head tilted to the side as he noticed the faint outline of ram horns on the side of his head, feeling cold breathing against his neck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Solo mantente alejado de mi, Schlatt.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why would I want to leave you alone, dear?” The ram purred out, smirking as Quackity’s face soured and he curled a hand into the fist, looking ready to punch the nearest thing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I was wondering if you were ever going to visit me, Technoblade~” The prisoner hummed, lifting his head and meeting the Piglin’s gaze before turning to the old man that stood nearby. “Ah, and Philza… I know why you’re here, hybrids.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Phil barely batted an eye, leaning against the wall as his torn and damaged wings hung behind him, sweeping the ground. “Then you know what I want.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You want me to bring your son back, because of your failures to do so yourself, Phil. But.. life is a fickle thing, don’t you think? What is life without death, joy without pain, love without loss?” He wondered, walking back and forth within his cell, gazing at his visitors.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you bring Wilbur back or not, Dream?” Technoblade growled, eyes narrowing as he pulled his cape tighter around himself. He wished he had Bartholomew on his shoulder to comfort him when he was stressed, always nuzzling his damaged little beak into the Piglin’s cheek like it was a feathery pillow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe I can.. Maybe not… Depends on what you can offer me in return for his lives back. Perhaps… freedom?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dream froze, turning to stare at Phil, eyes narrowing behind his mask as he growled in annoyance.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.” Phil repeats, keeping his face clear of emotion as the two of them stare back and forth at each other while Technoblade watches them, allowing himself to fade into the background from them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity breathed in the strong, harsh smell of oil and redstone, a smile appearing on his face as he stepped into the workshop underneath the prison, where the sound of a hammer echoed through the area, a low strumming sound creating white noise in the background as he rounded a corner, spotting Sam sitting at his workbench and tinkering away at his latest invention.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He walked over to the older man and stood by his side, watching him work in silence until he set down his hammer and turned to face the younger boy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You feel human again?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Very much so, thanks.” Alex replied, wrapping his arms around his father’s waist and nuzzling into his side, feeling loved hands wrap around him and pulled the child cloer, a chin dropping down on top of his beanie, which hid his still slightly wet hair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“God.. what did I do to deserve you, dad?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You're not the one who should be asking that, Alex.” Sam hummed, holding his child close and putting his to the back of the mind. The machinery could wait, Alex couldn’t.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Buddy, I have to know… why are you hiding as a duck?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexis stiffened, chewing the inside of his cheek as he tried to think of a believable answer, Schlatt whispering many suggestions to him, but one look at his dad made him fold. He would never lie to his father, not about this.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I lost my second life….” He began, taking a deep breath and steeling himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A sharp intake of breath was heard above his head, and when Sam’s grip on his son tightened, Quackity broke, beginning to sob all over again as he spilled everything. The elections, pooling his votes with Schlatt, getting married, the Festival, everything. It all spilled out of him in an endless wave of wails with comforting words helping ground him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Schlatt had gone silent, seeming scared of speaking when Quackity was so fragile, as if Alex would reveal what he was doing. It wasn’t until Alex had once again cried himself dry, and was sitting on the ground being held tightly by his now crying father did Schlatt speak to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ask him if we can talk to Dream, Alexis baby.” He demanded, standing above the two of them and only visible to the avian.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dad, I want to talk to Dream.. I want to ask him if I can get my two lives back somehow.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sam was silent, wiping his tears that had begun to spill as he learned what his child had gone through, thinking over his question before nodding. “I’ll come with you, if he can’t give you some lives back, I’ll ask him to transfer mine to you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No! You can’t do that Dad, you need your’s!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You are my son, Alexis. Your life comes before mine, now and always. If that means letting you have two of mine and me only having one, so be it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No! At least keep two of your lives, please!!” Alex begged, staring at his dad.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Black eyes met black eyes, both of them communicating, but neither speaking. Schlatt watched them trade looks back and forth, confused on how they understood each other until Sam sighs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, I’ll ask him to give you one of my three lives to make both of us have two, okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity nods, wrapping his arms around Sam’s neck and burying his face into his dad’s chest, allowing himself to be held close, savouring the moment, cause he knew it wouldn’t last.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A few hours later, Phil and Technoblade left the prison cell and returned to the front gates of the prison, meeting Sam with the once again tiny duck on his shoulder, curled up right in the curve of his neck for warmth. He gave the elder avian a small nod of acknowledgement before turning back to his project, hearing Technoblade shuffle over and try to pick up Bartholomew, who simply curled closer to Sam.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t bother him, Technoblade, little guy is fast asleep right now, I’ll bring him to you when he wakes up. You should go get some rest too, travelling here isn’t the most easy feat at the moment.” Sam hummed out, lightly grazing his fingers over his son’s feathers, communicator buzzing to life as he received a private message from George.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why does Quackity’s communicator say unavailable? If I have to listen to Sapnap scream at people over where his ‘fiance’ went for one more moment, I’m going to snap his neck.” The message read, making him chuckle as he typed out a quick reply.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alex is with me, George, don’t worry. He’s a little too damaged to communicate right now and you see… ducks can’t use communicators.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a moment of silence before the next message, the time in which Sam took to give Technoblade and Phil directions to nearby rooms for them to stay in, giving specific instructions to steer clear of the room that he was giving to his son.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once Technoblade disappeared, Phil stayed behind to speak a little with Sam, watching how tender he was with the tiny duckling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Techno thinks Quackity tried to steal Bartholomew.” He suddenly stated, the two fathers having been talking about their sons.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s wrong. Alexis isn’t a pet thief, and he’d never intentionally pick a fight with Technoblade on his last life.” Sam replied, lightly stroking the duck as if he was praising it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why are you so protective of the duck, Samuel?” Philza asked, raising an eyebrow at him, growing slightly suspicious.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That is my business. I’ve known this duck longer than you think, I know where he got that injury of his.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? How, Technoblade found him in the snowy tundras!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He is Alex’s little duck, his name is Quackers. Bad name, I know, I tried convincing him to choose a better one but my child sucks at names.”</span>
</p>
<p><span>Bartholomew quacked at them, seemingly insulted by the comment on name choices. The two adults shared a laugh as Bartholomew, Quackers, whatever his name was now, was set onto the table and allowed to walk around</span> <span>the table, always being stopped before he walked off the edges.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“Quackers is a peculiar little guy. Can’t fly or quack, and he received that injury escaping from a cat that wanted him as a meal. I know he means a lot to technoblade but I have to ask that you give me Quackers back.” Sam said calmly, taking a sip of his tea that he had fixed for himself and Phil.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I can’t do that. He means so much to my son, I couldn’t let you take him away.” Phil replied, staring at Sam as if he had just suggested they take swan dives off the roof of the prison.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re bickering is annoying, love.” Schlatt growled out, watching all of them from the doorway of the kitchen, smirking as the tiny duck turned to stare at him in fear. “Calm down, fella, I ain’t gonna hurt you. As long as you do what I say, that is.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tienes que dejar de parecer así, amor.” Quackity thought, receiving a chuckle from the mind-infiltrating ghost that had decided to haunt him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well if you’d hurry up and resurrect me, patito bebé, I wouldn’t have to sneak up on you.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bueno, es un poco difícil ... Todavía no puedo ir a hablar con Dream.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well then tell the old men to hurry their asses up, I’m tired of waiting.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t talk about my da like that, Schlatt. No quiero oírte decir tonterías a mi papá.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aww, poor Alexis is defensive about their father, so sweet.. So disgusting.” The ram hybrid snarled, rolling his eyes in annoyance as his lover’s reaction.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re such a dick, Schlatt.” Alex grumbled, moving to drop down into Sam’s lap and ignore his husband for the rest of the day, too tired to deal with an argument.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He nuzzled closer to Sam and shut his eyes, feeling himself drift off as Sam and Philza argued over who should get to keep him.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Admin is Healing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Won't be updating for a while, will work on story, but not post.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hey guys, so I won't be posting chapters for a short while, a day or two at the most, because, if you read the notes on the last chapter you'd know, I popped my neck and ended up somehow pulling some muscles in my neck and shoulder, causing the right side of them to be swollen, I had a doctor's appointment the day it happened, so that was good, but it causes severe pain in my neck to turn/tilt my neck to the right, and a cause could be from me hunching over with my body stiffened as I type chapters. Luckily, my new loft bed should be coming in today or tomorrow, so I'll have an actal desk that's built into it to sit at and write to prevent this from happening, but to take time to heal, I won't be posting for a short while. Longest I'll be gone is a week, depending on if it doesn't seem to want to heal, but shortest should be a day or two at the most, since it seems to be doing fine right now.</p>
<p>I wanted to tell you guys this so that you know if I don't post/I suddenly post a bunch over the course of a few days, cause I'll be working on this and doing world-building/dream smp research behind the scenes to help me out later in the story, and some upcoming chapters might be giving perspectives of other people that will help shape the happenings an events as well as expand on this giant world our tiny duck protagonist has found himself in!</p>
<p>And one more thing, would you guys like to see a sort of behind-the-scenes book for this story where I post information and things pertaining to it, like the world building and research points, as well as character relationships, things that aren't stated but implied about characters, etc.?? It will be just as much as a journal log for me as a sneak peek book for you!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, that's all, love you guys, thank you for all the support, and this duckie is flying out!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. A Dangerous Dream</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Quackity has a midnight meeting with Dream, and finds himself soon fleeing the prison with a now escaped convict, officially becoming a traitor to the SMP, as well as a traitor to his own father.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack, and I have a couple chapters ready, I kept almost posting the wrong chapter, my dumb self thought we were on chapter 11, not ten, but I have 10, 11, 12, and 13 done, with 14 underway, so wooo, we're building story, and next few chapter will have human Quackity being a traitor and getting a special permission from Dream!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Later that night, under the cover of the darkness and eerie shadows cast by the low hanging dim lanterns adorning the halls of the prison, Quackity crept. He was thankful for his first years on the streets, being able to stalk down the corridor without making a noise, wings tucked tightly against his back as he passed Philza’s room, barely breathing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Throughout the halls he wandered, seeming unfazed by the twisting, long hallways that seemed to end in nowhere, yet each had cells hidden from sight. Alex continued his adventure until he came around a corner and was greeted by the suffocating heat of lava, separating him from his goal. From his inventory, he produced a potion of fire resistance that he had stolen from Technoblade before they set out on the trip, making sure he had at least two extras and some invisibility and strength potions as well to be safe. With a small shiver, he tilted his head back and downed the searing hot liquid, waiting until his insides went from being melted alive to a cool, soothing type of numb. (He would never get used to the way fire resistance potions felt.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now immune to the heat of the lava, Quackity stepped through it and to the other side, where a figure laid in bed, mask moved slightly to the side as he stared up at the ceiling, unaware of his visitor until they spread their wings, the light from the lava reflecting off of them and casting the room into a gentle golden hue. Their head lifted up and turned slowly dull green eyes meeting dim golden ones.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alexis..”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Clay.” Alex replied, walking over as Dream sat up in bed and swung his legs off the side of the mattress, gazing up at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why are you here? HOW are you here?” The demon questioned curiously, raising an eyebrow as he slid the mask back into place over his face, hiding his expressions from the world behind a smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eh, wasn’t that hard… I just tagged along with Philza and Technoblade, no biggie.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No biggie? Technoblade wants you dead, how did you manage to sneak in with the-... You’re the duck.. Bartholomew.. Technoblade’s precious little duck!?” Dream questioned, letting out a wheezing sort of laugh and clutching his sides, as if it was the funniest thing in the world.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow, you are one sad, sad man..” Quackity muttered, adjusting his replacement beanie and letting out a small yawn, crossing a leg over the other while keeping himself upright using his wings as balance. “Look, green man, I got a deal for you and I’m only gonna say it once so listen up. Do you want freedom?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dream instantly went silent, turning to stare at Quackity behind the blank mask, black dots of eyes staring into him and ripping him apart from the inside under their lifeless pupils.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alex takes a deep breath, feeling Schlatt’s hand rest on his shoulder, silently urging him on. “Then help me resurrect Schlatt.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dream shook his head, laughing scornfully. “And why would I do that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A bottle was produced from thin air, being tossed to Dream, who caught it in a hurry. He stared at it, realizing that it was a potion of fire resistance, and lifted his head to stare at Quackity.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“All I can offer you is freedom. With that, you can try to regain control of your SMP, all I want is Schlatt back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ughh, but WHY though? Schlatt treated you horribly, Alexis, what could you possibly gain by bringing him back? Why not this: you let me out of here, and we’ll take over the world together? More power than Schlatt could EVER give you, at your fingertips. I’ll make you admin, you could be co-owner of the Dream SMP and have even Technoblade kneeling before you. And…. infinite lives…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity stiffened, shocked at the offer, crossing his arms and looking around, knowing he was running out of time before his potion wore off and really not wanting to use his spare one. He shut his eyes, thinking.. Well, actually he was waiting for Schlatt’s input, feeling the man’s presence hover over him, knowing he wore a sadistic grin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Take the offer, Alexis! With all that power, we don’t need Dream’s help with resurrecting me!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That’s all he needed to hear, opening his eyes again and stretching his hand out, a smirk forming on his face as Dream took hold of it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Deal, now… let’s have a prison break.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They were gone by the time morning rolled around, Sam waking up to a note on his desk written in his son’s surprisingly neat handwriting, able to tell it was written in a rush. As his eyes scanned the page, his heat stopped and breath caught in his throat, Phil and Technoblade entering the room at this moment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Samuel? Is everything alright?” Phil asked, his only response being Sam hoisting his Trident into his grip and rushing past him, muttering something about Dream.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Deciding to follow, the bird and the pig raced after the creeper, barely able to keep up. They reached Dream’s cell and watched as Sam pulled a hidden lever, the lava flowing to a stop to reveal an empty cell, all that was left behind was a broken mask, hanging in two on the wall under a note that said, “Thanks for the Stay. 10/10 would NEVER recommend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sam, where is he!?” Phil questioned, eyes wide.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He took him… he actually took him… a-after EVERYTHING I have done to raise that boy, he turned around and did the ONE THING I asked him never to do! I … I… I’ve failed, Philza… I let Dream manipulate him, and turn him against me..”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who, Sam!?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“... Alexis.. My dear sweet duckie… I shouldn’t have let him talk to Dream!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait.. Quackity was here? Where’s Bartholomew!?” Technoblade suddenly exclaimed, staring around as Sam turned to blankly stare at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know..”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Quackity probably took him, Tech.” Phil said gently, reaching out and placing a hand on his son’s shoulder.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dream grinned, turning to stare at Quackity, who had his arms around the other’s waist, hiding his face into the back of their hoodie as Dream steered Carl in the direction of the Badlands. “Perk up, Duck. We’ll be the kings soon enough.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity simply nodded, lightly petting the stolen horse as they rode off, turning his head to stare at the shrinking mass of the prison, feeling the guilt and dread start to set in.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Becoming An Admin</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Quackity and Dream have escaped and are hiding out for the night. Dream is more perceptive than he seems, and promotes Quackity to Admin. Too bad that the status update is a world wide message, so now everyone knows something is going on.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Quackity’s eyes drifted open as he sat up in bed, squinting in the darkness until he could make out the rough, jagged edges of of the stone walls, hoisting himself onto messily placed wooden planks and glancing at the other bed that had been shoved against his own. Laying on the bed, fast asleep, was Dream, messy blonde hair hiding his uncovered face from the duck hybrid, who sighed and made his way down the slight corridor they had made.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The base was small and messy, thrown together last minute as night fell upon them, Carl stationed just inside on loose dirt they had thrown on the ground. Alex approached the horse and lightly brushed his hand along his mane, pressing his cheek against Carl’s fur and shutting his eyes, relaxing a bit. After a minute of just standing there, he moved away and headed to the oven, popping some bread dough in and setting it to cook while he got ingredients for tomato soup, small, yet fulfilling breakfasts were what he was good at.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pitter-patter sound of bare feet on wood signalled his partner’s presence, just before he felt warm breath near his neck, Clay leaning over him to see what he was doing, unaware of Alex’s shock at the close proximity, being so used to easily being pressed against George or Sapnap to realize others might be uncomfortable with it. He continued breathing down Quackity’s neck, humming in approval as the boy made the soup. Finally, Dream stepped away and disappeared back into the bedroom without a word, probably to change into more fitting clothes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex breathed a sigh of relief, until the breath returned, this time cold and full of the stale scent of alcohol. He sighed again, turning down the stove and stirring the soup. “Hello, Schlatt…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not Schlatt, Alex..? Are you going insane?” Clay asked from the entryway, face now hidden behind a mask again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah! Uhm…. would you believe me if I said no?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope, so I want you to answer my question honestly.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is Schlatt haunting you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hybrid froze, turning to look at the dreamon and stare blankly. His reaction said it all. Dream let out a low hum and nodded his head slowly, walking over as Quackity backed up until he was pressing his back against the crafting table and Clay towered over him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“N-now amour… I think we’re in the wrong positions.. Aren’t you the one supposed to be pressed against a crafting table?” Alex asked, jokingly referencing the time they both visited Tommy in exile as Mexican and Girl Dream.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dream didn’t seem amused, stepping even closer and grabbing his chin, forcing Quackity to look at him. They stared there, staring at each other in silence for what felt like hours before Alexis whimpered and tried to turn his head away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re scared of him, so you follow him blindly… fear should not define power.” Dream whispered into his ear, pulling Quackity’s sleeve up to access his communicator and fiddle with it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“H-Hey! What are you doing!? Let go of that!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want admin or not, Alex?” Clay growled, continuing to click away on the holographic screen that came up, punching in a code of sorts before turning to look at the hybrid. “You ready?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex stood there, watching Dream’s hand hover over the enter button. He could turn back now, this was his last chance. He could take Dream back to the prison, beg for forgiveness and pretend this never happened. Schlatt would call him a coward. Schlatt.. Why was he letting a ghost call the shots, he was the one with the ability to do things, he was the one getting everything done! He was in charge, not Schlatt, and he wasn’t going to stop until he had the world under his control.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The button was pressed and Alex’s communicator began to glow, surrounding him with light as all across the SMP, people’s wrists dinged with a worldwide message, making them freeze in their tracks as they read what it said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sapnap dropped the axe he was holding, staring at the message that popped up, turning to meet Karl’s shocked gaze, the two of them trying to process what had happened. They both abandoned their weapons and instead went to search for Tubbo and Fundy, who were staying at their house while they searched for the missing duck hybrid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>George was woken from his nap, groaning as he pulled up the message screen, skimming the words before they sunk in, suddenly throwing himself up in bed and grabbing his glasses to read the message again. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and sprung up, throwing more appropriate clothes on over his pajamas and running out the door, hopping on one foot as he attempted to pull his shoes on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Technoblade stared at his wrist and took in the words that were being broadcasted, lifting his head to peer past his glasses at Sam, who dropped to his knees and let out a pained hiss, slamming his fist into the obsidian ground as it caught on his leather gloves. He continued to beat the floor with his fists, letting his anger start to take over as Phil backed away from the glowing creeper hybrid, giving him space to not overwhelm him and make him explode.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phil raised his head and sighed, swiping away the message, feeling anger bubble up inside of himself but forcing it down as to not let his own feelings drive his actions. He sighed and watched Sam return to normal, the hissing noise slowly dying out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Samuel.. Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man lifted his head, black eyes dull, the red pin pricks seemingly gone as he let out a broken laugh from his broken form.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, of course not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phil nods sighing as he watched Technoblade stare at the message, reading it from behind, shaking his head with a small, upset chuckle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All around the SMP, people were being woken or shocked by the message, the chat filling with confusion and making the many sectors start to chat back and forth, no one understanding what was going on until Sam sent a SMP-wide message to everyone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dream has escaped Prison, Alexis Quackity is a traitor. If you see them, try to detain them, no matter the cost.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. The JSchlatt Cabinet and Co</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>We look at how the other members of Schlatt's cabinet are handling things, and how they plan to track down their friend, oh and Karl and Sapnap are here too.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tubbo paced back and forth in the living room as Fundy leaned against the wall, holding a conversation with some unknown person through whispers in the chat. In the kitchen, Sapnap and Karl were having their own hushed conversation in hushed voices. Finally, whatever Tubbo was waiting for arrived, a knock on the door sounded through the tense silence as the young goat hybrid jumped and rushed to open the door. On the other side stood a fellow, still half-asleep, member of Schlatt’s cabinet, George.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank gods you’re here! Do you have any idea what’s going on!?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You mean other than that announcement?” George asked, pulling the message up and scanning his eyes over it again from behind his goggles.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“‘Alexis ‘Quackity’ Awedude has been promoted to Admin status by [Dream]. Alexis ‘Quackity’ Awedude’s lives have been restored to 3/3 from ⅓. Please respect the newest member of the admin team, as they have the ability to kick or ban people from the Dream SMP, any abuse of this power will be looked into and they will be stripped of the title if the Owner [Dream] sees fit.’”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>George finished reading the message aloud and lifted his head to stare at the other two in the room, both of which were still as pale as they had been when the message first went out. George’s watch beeped again with a call that he quickly puts through to his headset, adjusting the earpiece.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dad?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, Phil, your father wanted me to use his communicator to call cause he knew you’d pick up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where is dad?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Trying not to explode… not going so well.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What… What happened.. How the fuck did Dream give Alex Admin?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Quackity lied to us.. He lied to your father, said he wanted to talk about transferring one of Sam’s life to himself with Sam’s agreement but.. They used fire resistance potions to get past the lava, Quackity had gear waiting for him, it was the middle of the night..”</span>
</p>
<p><span>“Wait.. Wait-wait-wait! Quackity </span><b>BROKE</b><span> Dream out of the prison</span> <em><span>OUR FATHER</span></em><span> built.. Did the </span><b><em>ONE THING</em></b><span> Dad told us never to do..?”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“I wish I could say n-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t believe you. I don’t believe that Quackity would do that. I know him like the back of my hand. He’s many things… a traitor isn’t one of them. So.. stop, there has to be another reason.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“George, Quackity admitted to it, he left a fucking note.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Let me talk to my father, I don’t want to have this conversation with you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tubbo and Fundy looked at each other and both silently headed to the kitchen, where Sapnap had his arms around Karl’s waist, holding him close and whispering reassurances into his ear. The scene was intimate and private, so they slunk out the back door, leaving the three men behind. They walked a little ways away from the house and into the treeline, Tubbo letting out a frustrated baah noise and lightly thumping his head against the wooden trunk of a tree and suddenly a frustrated scream escaped him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fundy retaliates with his own animal noise and the two stare at each other before dissolving into giggles. As the sound echoed the desolated wooden canopy they stood under, Fundy soon realized Tubbo had started to cry, and rushed to help him. How funny, a giggling matter could almost just as quickly become a matter of pain.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I-I want Quackity back!” Tubbo wailed, being held tightly by Fundy and a hand tangled gently into his brown locks as he was rocked back and forth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Me too, Tubbo, but you gotta calm down, we’re never going to get him back if we just cry about it. Besides, we’re part of Schlatt’s cabinet, we know him better than anyone else!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Y-yeah we do but,... wait… Didn’t Schlatt give each of us trackers!? To find each other if we get separated during business matters or other things?” Tubbo suddenly asked, remembering he tossed his tracker into lava the instant he got a chance, not wanting for anyone to be able to track him or vica-versa.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s no telling if Quackity kept his, though. He probably tossed it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We won’t know unless we try, George still has his! He told me last week that he found it while going through his chests and cleaning. We can see if it can pick up the signal from Quackity’s!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s a good idea, let’s go see if George is off the communicator yet, and don’t headbutt any walls, I don’t want to have to help Sapnap and Karl repair any more holes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“H-hey! The last one was an accident! I didn’t think I was that strong!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You deal with Tommy, of course you’re strong.. And an idiot.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey!” Tubbo laughed gently as they walked inside, passing the kitchen wall just below a window where Tubbo had headbutted it and put a hole.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karl looked at them and gave them a small smile, leaning into Sapnap and humming softly as the two simply relaxed into each other. They were stressed and worried for their best friend, but didn’t show it, needing to be strong for their friend’s son. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What are you boys doing?” Sapnap asked, lifting his head off of Karl’s shoulder, eyes flashing orange to reveal the anger in him wasn’t well contained, and he was ready to lash out at anyone who stood between himself and Quackity.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Gonna see if George can track Quackity using the trackers Schlatt gave us.” Fundy replied, breezing past them and ignoring their shocked faces upon hearing Schlatt wanted his cabinet tracked at all times.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can try.” George piped up, meeting Fundy in the doorway of the kitchen, his glasses resting on his head as he stepped past the fox, moving to the coffee machine and pulling out a mug to use, quickly setting to work making himself the bean juice. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dropping his bag onto the ground, he motioned for Tubbo, giving permission for the boy to dig through the contents in search of his compass, rifling through papers and stray candy wrappers, as well as other items. There, at the bottom of the mess sat a gleaming, enchanted compass, which was spinning wildly, waiting for a command to hone in on.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tubbo looked at George and then Fundy, receiving nods as he flipped a small switch on the bottom, a light flashing to signal it was ready for the name.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alexis Quackity Awedude.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a slight red glow of the needle, before it shot to the right, pointing in the direction of the winged hybrid’s location, as an automated voice spoke, revealing the faction he was in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The Badlands.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. The Badlands</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Quackity and Dream are in the badlands, a wasteland that was corrupted by the egg, and are found by a curious kitty.</p><p>Also Dream is an emotionally manipulative shit messing with Quackity's feelings.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream let Quackity steer Carl, the horse liking him better than Dream. The two of them watched the red vines become more prominently the deeper they travelled into the Badlands, Quackity shuddering as he passed a citizen, skin a corrupted and deadly red tone, eyes blank as they watched the horse gallop by. A reassuring squeeze was delivered by Dream, who didn’t miss the way he seemed to shrink away from the blank, void eyes of the infected.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What has Bad done to this place…?” Dream wondered, resting his head on Alex’s shoulder and staring as the vines on some of the buildings they passed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have not a single clue.. Why are we even here, anyways?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wanted to speak with Bad and Skeppy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re wanted terrorists, Clay. That’s not going to work out well.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it isn’t, and it won’t.” A voice behind them said as Carl slowed to a trot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dream whipped his head around, Netherite sword that he stole from Sam appearing in his grip as he found himself staring at a cat hybrid. Quackity had stiffened, making Carl stop in his tracks as he waited for Dream’s order to flee, not meeting the gaze of the stranger. Clay leaned closer to Alexis’s ear and whispered to him gently, assuring him that Ant wouldn’t cause them any harm if they played nice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Easy for you to say, mr. god.” Alex shot back, slowly turning Carl around to face Ant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are you in the Badlands, traitors?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wanted to visit my good old friend Badboyhalo, is that too much to ask for after being locked up for so long?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is since you both pose as threats to the Egg.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Egg?” Quackity asked, tilting his head to the side, memories fuzzy as that name rang a bell. “You mean the weird thing corrupting this place and feeding off despair or some other sad, lonely shit?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dream whistled, chuckling in amusement at Quackity’s response</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is a special thing, you’ve already been exposed to it, haven’t you Quackity. Bad will want you to get more personal with it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Quackity stiffened again, remembering how close he had been to succumbing to it before Karl dragged him away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He will not be left alone with the Egg, Ant. Quackity is not to leave my side, do you understand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That is up to Bad, not me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then take us to him.” Quackity piped up, not wanting to be left out of the conversation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ant Venom stared at them before sighing and sliding his sword back into its sheath, motioning for them to follow, turning back to stare at the horse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dismount.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I’m not getting off Carl, I don’t trust you, Ant.” Alex growled, narrowing his eyes and tightening his grip on the reins as Dream pressed a hand between his wings, making him almost turn to butter from the touch on his sensitive back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clay leaned closer to Alex, whispering nonsense words to calm the anxious bird, waiting until his wings lowered and settled back down, humming in approval and dropping his chin onto his shoulder and smirking devilishly as Quackity blushed, unsure how to react to the flirtatious actions of the SMP owner, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breathe to calm his racing heart. Dream knew exactly what he was doing, too, with his actions, knowing that he would get a rise out of Quackity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just stay calm, let me do the talking birdie, okay? I don’t want you getting hurt.” Clay whispered into his ear, letting his hand rest on Alexis’s waist. He waited until he received a nod before gently climbing off of Carl and taking the reins from Quackity’s grip.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will dismount, but Alex stays on, do you understand, Ant?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever you must do, but let us hurry, Bad is a busy man.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The trio travelled farther into the corrupted plains, dodging people and vines. Once, Quackity had to defend himself from some vines that he had gotten tangled in while sitting on Carl’s back, and Dream had to halt to carefully cut through the restricting cords to free him. Ant was unbothered, cutting through vines only if they blocked their path, but generally left them alone for the most part. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the small group came upon a giant building and stopped right in front of the doors.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now you will have to leave the steed behind, he is not allowed in the house, I promise no harm will come to him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Quackity simply stared not moving until a hand landed on his thigh. He jumped and twisted his head, meeting the blanke, smiling gaze of Dream’s mask, and he found himself being lifted up and off of the saddle by strong arms, his feet finding solid purchase on the ground as Dream let him go. They worked together to remove any items of importance from the bags connected to the saddle and slip them into their own inventories before letting Ant take the reins. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before Ant could get very far though, Quackity suddenly ran to catch up with him, stopping in front of the other hybrid and resting his hand on Carl’s side before whispering to Ant. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If there are </span>
  <b>any</b>
  <span> injuries on this horse when we get ready to leave I will personally remove your ears and tail from your body in the most painful ways possible, do you understand me Ant Venom?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The cat’s ears drew back as he let out a low snarl, yet the threat did its job as he nodded. Satisfied, Alexis made his way back to Clay and gave him a nod, the two reaching out and each grabbing a doorknob, turning them and opening the doors. On the other side, two people were waiting for them, both of them looking unamused with having to wait.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bad.. Skeppy.” Dream acknowledged, nodding his head to each of them, wrapping an arm tightly around Quackity’s waist and leading him farther in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We were beginning to think Ant got you lost.” Skeppy hummed out, turning and motioning for them to follow, leading them into a room that looked like it was set up for a meeting. “Come, we have much to discuss.. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Admins.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. The Trap and The Fallen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>WOOO BOY BUCKLE UP&lt; ANGST AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>WARNING BEFORE I BEGIN!</p>
<p>CHARACTER DEATH</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alex looked around the mansion, amazed at the elegance of it as they walked down the hall, turning his attention to the demon leading the group. He stood about nine feet tall and towered over the duck hybrid, who pressed against Dream’s side in fear, glancing at the small man made of diamond, a two foot tall man of valuable ore, as he turned to stare at them, deep blue eyes narrowing slightly as he stared at Quackity.<br/>	He knew why the two are acting this way, their son was Sapnap, the boy he had left behind, his best friend who he had now betrayed. And Karl. The two men who loved him more than anything in the world, his best friends. The two people that he would’ve laid down his life for if it meant keeping them safe. He loved him.</p>
<p>	And then there was Technoblade.. The man he feared, a god in his own way, a god that showed his mortal side to the little duck he had taken in and rescued from the snow. He showed Quackity a side that no mortal has ever seen, and in return Quackity showed his own vulnerability. He could’ve been killed countless times by the man, yet each time, Technoblade protected him. Alex felt horrible. He tricked Technoblade, and now both Quackity and the Piglin’s precious Bartholomew were missing. They were likely to never be found. <br/>	Dream watched Alex lag behind and reached out, grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers. They were in this together, they would work together to rule the SMP. They’d be the kings. Dream glanced behind them, spotting the ghost ram following them, eyes focused on Quackity and his hand’s, snarling. He pretended not to notice the ghost, letting his eyes wander the mansion, and take in all of the beautiful intricate work.<br/>	He didn’t notice the men walking up on the building, a trident in one of their hands. The other man had a red mask that resembled the look of lava, and left a burnt patch of land in his wake, walking behind them were two younger men, weapons and armour equipped.<br/>	The group approached the doors, meeting with the cat hybrid that was waiting for them, holding Carl’s reins.<br/>	“The stolen horse, Warden.” Ant explained, passing the reins to Sapnap, who quickly pulled up his scanner and scanned the horse, the Registration Database coming up.<br/>	“This is Technoblade’s horse.. Carl? What kind of name is that?” The man asked as George snatched the reins, not wanting another possible pet war.<br/>	“It’s best not to ask. Ant Venom, are you positive my son and the fugitive are in here?” Sam asked, glancing at Ponk and the two men behind them. Pink had been a last minute decision to bring, running into him as they were heading off for the badlands and requesting to join the party of three for added support.<br/>	“Positive, I escorted them to the mansion myself, Bad and Skeppy are bringing them into a room where the only exit is the one you will come from. There is no escape. Dream and Quackity will not get very far in whatever they’re planning.</p>
<p>	Clay sat on the chair he was offered in the meeting room, looking at Alex, who was standing near the door, ready to flee. He didn’t blame the duck hybrid for being antsy, especially because of the way Bad and Skeppy were staring at him. A clearing of the throat brough all eyes to the Dreamon, who stood up and opened his mouth, only to be cut off before he even began.<br/>	“Wait, Dream. We are having muffins made, surely we can start after some refreshments, give the two of you time to rest after your long trip here.”<br/>	“It wasn’t that long of a trip, actually, I can teleport now that I’m out of the Prison, but Alex didn’t want to leave the horse behind. So if we can, I’d like to have our meeting as quickly as possible so we can continue on our way, admins are very busy, y’know.”<br/>	“Oh I know, I just thought my old friend would want to hang out with me, talk about life and stuff. I’m sure you have a lot of questions for what’s going on right now in your server.”<br/>	Badboyhalo smirked, knowing he got Dream right where the demon wanted him, drawing himself to his full height in the custom chair he had built to fit his full 9 feet of length. Skeppy sat on his knee, swinging his legs back and forth and smiling innocently as he met his husband’s gaze. The two of them shared a nonverbal conversation, debating how long it would take for the Warden to arrive.<br/>	As if on cue, the feathers on Quackity’s ears flared up, sensing something, he turned to look at Dream, eyes widening in shock. One look at the leaders of the Badlands confirmed what Quackity realized, they were in a trap.<br/>	Dream flung himself up, grabbing the boy and setting off out the door, hearing screaming behind him as they ran down the hall. At the front doors were a group of armed people, one raising his trident and pointing at them. <br/>	“Stop right there!” Sam yelled, watching his son’s eyes fly wide open as he turned around and shot off like a jack rabbit down the nearest hall, the fugitive being forced to follow.<br/>	They chased them, turning a corner to find the two running up stairs, heading straight to the roof. Sapnap goes to follow but Sam yanked him back, narrowing his eyes as he watched his son disappear from view, tugging at his tracksuit.<br/>	“Wait, they’re gonna attempt to jump off.”<br/>	“How!?” Ponk exclaimed in shock, turning to face the creeper and stare at him.<br/>	“Alex can’t fly… but he’s a damn good glider, his wings can be used as parachutes in a way, using them to safely reach the ground and flee. Surround the house, do not let them get away.” He stopped, as if debating something before handing some arrows to each of them. “These are arrows of slowness… If need be, shoot. But do not aim for the heart, understand?”<br/>	Once he received nods, they all shot off, Sam heading to the top floor to try and catch them before they jump, trying to reason with his son to come back before it’s too late. When he burst through the doors of the roof, he found the two of them standing on the edge. Dream growled and drew his sword while Quackity shrank back, staring in fear at the furious creeper.<br/>	“Alexis. Get over here now.”<br/>	“He isn’t going anywhere, Sammy~” Dream cooed dangerously, actually feeling fear start to embed in him when Sam turned around to face him.<br/>	“I'm not speaking to you, so unless you want me to shove you off this roof, stand down.”<br/>	“D-dad..” Alex began, only to be cut off.<br/>	“DO NOT! Do not dad me! What are you even thinking, Alexis? This is Dream, you’re dealing with! DREAM! Alex, I know what you’ve gone through. I know what Schlatt did to you, but this is not the way! Technoblade wants you dead, duckling. Please, come back with me, with us! Sapnap and Karl are devastated, Tubbo won’t stop crying. George..”<br/>	“Slept through everything. It’s his fault I teamed with Schlatt, if he hadn’t slept through the elections, we might’ve had a chance! It’s HIS fault!”<br/>	“He’s your brother!”<br/>	“AND SCHLATT WAS MY HUSBAND!” Alex screamed, staring at him with red pinprick eyes, his biological parents traits coming through. Sam might not be his actual dad, but he knew Alex’s mom was a creeper and dad an avian. When he got truly mad, his mother’s red pinpricks showed through him, wings flaring up behind him.<br/>	“I know, and I’m sorry. If I had known what he was doing to you, I would’ve stopped it! I would’ve helped you! But you shut me out, and next time I hear from you, you’re in your damaged form, hiding from Technoblade in plain sight! You are my SON Alexis Quackity, please don’t do this!”<br/>	“... I’m sorry, papi. I have to do this. Forgive me..” Alex made a weird sweeping motion with his hand, and before Sam could react, a sword found home in his chest, protruding through his back. <br/>	He looked down, eyes wide, choking on his words as the pain flared up. Turning his head, he was met with the blank gaze of a mask, a voice whispering in his ear.<br/>	“I’ll take good care of your boy, Samuel~”<br/>	“N-no..” Sam gasped out, collapsing to the ground as his vision blacked, seeing his son’s tear-streaked face as he grabbed Dream and jumped, whispering an apology to his father, who’s blood pooled under his body, draining from him like life essence.<br/>He found himself floating in a void, being greeted by three giant hearts, watching one of them start to wither, a sword appearing in its place as it stabbed through and took the spotlight, the other two hearts remaining untouched. This is what it’s like to lose a life…. This is what his son has gone through, does he have a pickaxe and a rocket in place of two of the hearts, the third one all alone, an outcast waiting to meet the same fate? What about Philza, what took up two of his heart places?<br/>Below, a figure appeared, Dream, standing underneath the sword and holding a matching one at the ready, a symbol of who stole his first life, and in the shadows, he could make out a pair of golden wings in the darkness behind the Admin.</p>
<p>	Communicators ding, as George pulled the message up, reading it and falling to his knees, shock jolting through his body as he tried to comprehend what he was reading.. The other two men read it quickly, eyes widening. From in the air, Alex could clearly hear the pained scream of his brother as he read the death message that had been sent out.<br/>	“Samuel  Awedude was slain by Dream using Warden’s Punishment.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Are you guys okay</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>So... are you guys mentally okay after that chapter, or are you going to wave pitchforks at me until I gice Sam a life baclk and repair what I've broken?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dream and Quackity flee, Dream continues his manipulation of Quackity.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <strong>Can you tell this chapter was written before the last one, which was originally gonna be a flashback, but I decided to use it differently? This chapter also has a deleted ending I might post that I changed, cause I decided to wait on adding Puffy until I found a better opening.</strong>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Clay and Alex ran through the abandoned streets, fleeing from the house, having been forced to leave Carl behind, Alex upset at this. His leg suddenly gave out on him, making the duck hybrid scream, as he crumbled to the ground, hitting his head on a branch. An unseen force yanked him up and he heard Schlatt’s voice in his ears, urging him on as he helped him up, Dream already rushing back to help. The world was a blur of houses, people, trees, and so much more, neither stopping long enough to figure out where they were, Schlatt occasionally warning them to keep moving if they took a break because their pursuers were advancing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They ran for days and nights, occasionally stopping to eat and rest, only to trek on barely minutes later. Eventually, the two reached the bottom of a mountain and shared a look, neither wanting to climb up it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We need a break… I don’t think I can walk much more, my leg hurts.” Alex whimpered, dropping onto the ground and pulling the pants leg of his jeans up and examining his swollen ankle, whining when Dream crouched and lightly pressed his hand against it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sprained… We’ll rest here for now, I’m sure there’s plenty of distance between us and them now. I.. I can’t believe this! Bad betrayed us! He contacted Sam, and George and Sapnap! He set us up in a trap! Argh!” Dream screamed in frustration, ripping his mask off to reveal blonde hair, a sculpted face, and furious glowing green eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alex let out a small whimper when he yelled, shutting his eyes and trying to curl in on himself, wanting to disappear. When Clay saw him, he froze, remembering what Schlatt had done to Quackity and forced himself to calm down, kneeling next to the boy and slowly reaching out, giving him plenty of time to pull away. Alex didn’t. He allowed himself to be pulled into a gentle hug, a hand starting to lightly tug at his beanie, as if asking for permission to take it off. Alex doesn’t complain and allowed the hat to be removed, gloved hands running through his messy black curls of hair, trying to soothe him before he went into a panic attack.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity was pulled into his lap, hands shakily gripping the front of Dream’s hoodie, burying his face into the other’s chest and shaking as he felt tears begin to slip down his face and soak the hoodie. The hand in his hair was removed, and before he could ask what he was doing, Alex felt a now ungloved hand start to run over his wings, fixing bent feathers and removing dirt. He was.. Preening Alexis’s feathers? The feeling was nice, no one ever preening them for him before, touches gentle and comforting as he began to relax, allowing for the dreamon to care for his wings, letting his eyes slip shut until his breathing evened out and tears stopped, soon falling asleep there.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dream stayed in that position, just holding the damaged hybrid in his lap and gently running his hands along the silky soft feathers on Quackity’s wings, feeling his hand slip under some and to the soft downy feathers hidden underneath. He lifted his head, feeling a presence above him and finding himself staring at a ram hybrid, watching them intently.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His feet were floating a few inches off the ground, eyes trained on the duck hybrid in the demon’s arms, a snarl setting his expression into an ever darker gaze of anger.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Go away, Schlatt, let him sleep.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He should not be resting at this time. He has a job to do.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re dead, dumbass, just leave him the fuck alone! You no longer have the right to control him, it’s my turn again to have control of the server.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He never would have tried to get you out if I hadn’t told him too, he will always follow my orders, Dream. Without me, the little bitch is nothing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alex whined, shifting around in his sleep, stirring slightly because of the noise. He was barely awake, but slurred out a gentle, “What’s goin on?” to which Clay simply muttered a soft ‘go back to sleep.’ to him and set him on the makeshift bed they had thrown down before collapsing, dragging a blanket over him and walking away into the woods, motioning for the ghost to follow him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How can you see me, anyways?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I own the world, I can see everyone, whether they’re invisible or not, dead or alive. Why are you haunting Quackity?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He belongs to me. I’m his husband.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Some husband you were then, Schlatt, eh? He killed you, you worthless piece of shit.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He was confused! Alex knows I’m the only one who can take care of him properly, the only one who can truly love him and make him feel useful!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bullshit. He is so much more than what you make him out to be, and he deserves something much more than you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Awww, do you actually care about the bitch? Or are you just using him too?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dream went quiet, snarling at the ghost and curling a hand into his fist.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why didn’t you warn us that Sam and them were coming?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because I wanted you to fail,” Schlatt replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. “I obviously didn't know!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dream sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t have time for this. Look, let me handle Alex for a while, you just keep watch for me, alright?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do I look like, a watchdog?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The owner was already turning around and walking back to the duck hybrid, humming a gentle tune. “Nope, You’re a watch RAM, Schlatt!” The man cackled, sounding like a true Disney villain as he did so.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He returned to Alex’s side, picking up the discarded Beanie and slipping it onto the boy’s head, adjusting his hair to how it normally looked before dropping down into the second makeshift bed and promptly passing out, worn from days of running on foot, he wasn’t aware that Schlatt had decided to let fate play their hand of cards, or of the Piglin Hybrid sneaking through the trees in search of his ducky.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. His Betrayal Hurt</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dream's intentions are revealed, and Alex is alone once more, but maybe this sheep woman could be of companionship, if he ever woke up from a new near-death experience</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Alex awoke, he looked around the abandoned field near the base of the mountain, his fellow Admin nowhere in sight. The boy pulled himself out of bed and removed his shirt to preen his wings without resistance, forgetting that Dream preened them yesterday until he saw the condition they were in, smiling slightly as he instead looked for a river to clean some dirt off of his body and clean out his cuts he got while fleeing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He found a river not far from where they rested for the day and looked around, making sure he was alone before slipping into the water and letting it rise up to his chin, wings flapping slightly under the water and propelling himself forwards. He relaxed as the warm water washed over him, submerging himself in the water before popping back up and shaking his head. His wings popped up from under the water, the liquid rolling right off the water-proof feathers that covered the extra appendages on his back. Alex couldn’t help but laugh softly as he swam around, unaware that he was being watched by not one, or two, but three people.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Schlatt stared at his ex husband swimming around happily, not getting too close as to avoid the water. He stared across the tree line to where Dream stood, watching him as well and snarled when they made eye contact. He did not like people touching his property,</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dream smiled as Quackity shifted into a duck and swam around, diving under water just to resurface again moments later and shake his feathers off. He sighed, turning to meet the gaze of the Piglin next to him, smirking slightly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There is your precious Bartholomew, hidden in plain sight the entire time. He’s been the enemy all along, Technoblade.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Piglin grunts, not wanting to speak lest his voice betrays the pain he felt at this. The duck he found, he had thought had been abandoned, was the man who wanted him dead; the tiny duck who couldn’t fly or quack, who he had made tiny hats for, was the man who betrayed the entire server. Pain coursed through his veins, igniting his blood as noise filled his head, screaming at him to stab, stab, stab, kill, snap his neck, make him hurt, make him pay.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had to shut his eyes and look away, feeling tears spring up. “They all always betray me. This is why you gave me your coordinates, not to kill him, but to reveal him, Dream?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s wrapped around my finger, thinks he’s in control but he isn’t. You’ve hunted him once, do it again.” Dream ordered, handing Technoblade the very same sword used to kill Sam a week prior, now cleaned of the creeper’s gunpowder infused blood and ready to claim another life.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If I kill him, you walk free, if I kill you, he walks free..”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you kill him, there will be a split second Schlatt is no longer tethered to him, and I can get rid of him once and for all. If we don’t, he will resurrect Schlatt, which would be the worst outcome. Besides, he’s tricked you, lied to you, and manipulated you. He knows your weak points, and knows how to take you down, you must strike first.” Dream told him, watching as the Piglin was overcome by the voices.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Technoblade dragged his skull mask into place before pulling out his bow and notching an arrow, aiming for the heart, hearing the voices scream to kill him, but then a single voice rang through, using manipulation to be heard. It sounded like his little sister’s voice, and soon the others began to follow, wanting to hear what it had to say.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait for what?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Little one has spoken!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No kill?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No blood for the god!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They all went hushed when the single voice spoke again, Technoblade feeling himself lower the bow and point it at the ground, tuning Dream’s confused questions out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s still our friend,”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Still our friend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Still our friend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Still our friend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Still our friend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Still our friend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Still our friend?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes! He could’ve killed us but he didn’t.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Duck no Kill!!!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Duck no Kill!!!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Duck no Kill!!!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Duck no Kill!!!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Duck no Kill!!!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Duck no Kill!!!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Duck no Kill!!!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Duck no Kill!!!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Technoblade shut his eyes, growling softly as he listened to the voices grow louder, like a cassette tape stuck on repeat, pulling the bow and firing while they screamed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It missed, but served its purpose. Quackity knew he was there, turning to stare at him, and at the man next to him. Dream began to scream, eyes glowing vibrant green as he tried to rush Techno, only to be thrown into a tree.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“True friends don’t turn on each other, Dream.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity was fleeing, shirt thrown back on and stuff gathered, grabbing his dad’s Netherite axe and bolting, pushing through the pain on his foot. He ran until the ground beneath him disappeared, and his wings flung out to slow his fall, but it was too late. He crashed into the stone wall of the ravine, hearing something crack in his hollow bones as his left wing goes limp, unresponsive as he crashed into the ground below, straight into the rushing water below, his body being swept away. The light is far above, or below? He couldn’t tell which way was which. Was he swimming even farther down? It’s hard to breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He betrayed him, Alex showed weakness and Dream betrayed him. He brought Technoblade. Technoblade knows. He knows what Alex is, he knows Quackity was the duck. He is going to die.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He lost consciousness long before washing up on the edge of the river that worked through the ravine and underground, to a beach. That’s where she found him, while walking along the ocean. The sheep stared down at the other hybrid, sensing something familiar about him. Then she saw the green scales hidden near the bases of his wings as she dried him off and changed his clothes. He was the wanted one. He looked so young, not even twenty-one, so how could he be a criminal of the land already. The boy was so close to death when she found him, she doubted he’d make the night, but nonetheless, she did what she could for him and left him in a room of her hidden house, pulling up her communicator contacts and clicking on the speed-contact, pressing ‘The Warden’ and waiting for it to pick up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He answered on the first ring, face filling the holographic screen as the two met each other's gazes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What is it, Puffy?” His voice is strained and cracked, void of emotion. The Captain doesn’t blame him, unable to imagine if her own children betrayed her the way the Warden’s had.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I found him.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. DeathBed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Quackity is on his deathbed, severely damaged after yet another near death experience, but it seems he might not be able to recover this time.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam and Puffy paced back and forth in the living room, Ponk standing by the door and watching them. George and Sapnap were on the couch, Karl leaning on the latter while Tubbo sat at the table, a cup of hot chocolate gripped tightly between his hands. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The door opened, and wings slipped in before the person owning them, spanning the length of the house as he draped them against his back to give other’s space, removing his hat and running a hand through his blond hair, meeting the Warden’s gaze.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where is my son?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We don’t know, all we know is Dream contacted him, and it seems he was hunting Quackity, there’s a cut on his back, where the arrow barely grazed them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What kind of arrow?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“... Arrow of harming.” Puffy whispered, glancing over her shoulder where the boy laid, face pale, tan skin void of colour, and covered in sweat. “He’s dying Sam, having three lives can’t save him, his body isn’t prepared for this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why hasn’t he shifted? To heal.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“His brain is fucked up, something is.. Draining him, lowering his sanity. I think.. If he turns into a duck again, he will not be able to transform back. He’s going down, and I doubt we can save him, only one person can heal him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.” Sam snarled, looking up at the girl, eyes glowing red slightly as he stalked towards his son, ignoring the stares sent his way as he sat on the bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His beanie was gone, wings splayed out under him and hair drenched in a cold sweat. Creeping up his neck were green scales that matched Sam’s own, and the older man lightly traced them, feeling his heart in his throat, tears welling up in his black eyes as he stared at the boy he had raised. Sam lowered his head, pressing their foreheads together, hating the clammy feeling his son’s skin had. He felt a shudder go through the child’s body. Alex was a child, he wasn’t even legal age to drink, yet he was already on what could be his final deathbed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The hissing started softly, slowly growing louder, as the tears slipped down his face, holding the boy’s body close to himself and rocking him, unable to stop crying as he tried to wake his son up. In the doorway, Phil looked at him, walking in and placing a hand on his shoulder, watching the warden hold the barely breathing body against his chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Samuel… If he can help, we need him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“NO! That bastard caused this, he hurt my son, betrayed him, manipulated him! I don’t want him anywhere near Alex.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He will die if we don’t, Sam. Would you rather keep Alex alive, or keep Clay away?” Phil asked, watching Sam look at him with hollow eyes, slowly lower his boy’s body back to the bed, wiping his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I want him to be okay.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come walk with me, we’ll talk about what to do.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They both finally walked out, Phil leading Sam out of the house and down the coast of the beach, the two fathers having a lot to discuss.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Will he be okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Puffy glanced at Tubbo, seeing the way he looked down at his drink, walking over and placing a hand on his head, between his horns and crouching down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know, little goat, I don’t know…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She watched tears start to form, pulling him into a hug and rocking back and forth.The door opened, and a hulking beast with snout and tusks walked in, ignoring all of them as he disappeared into the room Alex lay, shutting the door and locking it behind himself. Puffy held Tubbo tightly when he began to panic over the man who entered, shushing him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I called him, he wants to speak to Quackity, even if the other can’t reply.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“W-why?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He could’ve killed him, but didn’t, there's some things he needs to say, but does not want Quackity to remember. Just.. if anything happens, I will personally butcher Technoblade.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The Piglin stared down at the dying duck, chewing his cheek. He reached out, forever gently hands tracing the scar that covered half of his face, knowing the layout like the back of his hand as he had traced it many times with a single finger, always wondering how such a tiny animal received such a nasty wound. Now he knew. He gave little Bartholomew that injury. He stares at Quackity, moving hair out of his face and smiling gently as he sat on the bed, slowly pulling the man closer and holding him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He pulled out the rings he had made and slowly slid the brightest one onto Quackity’s hand, letting the emerald jewel in it face upwards and shine in the setting light. It would be broken soon, he knew that. But it would keep Alex alive, and even if he dropped back down to one life, it would be worth it, knowing his duck is safe, for now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dream was injured, Schlatt was pissed, and Technoblade was healing. He was hurt, of course he was hurt by the betrayal. He had shown the darkest and brightest parts of himself to the tiny duck, and to learn who the duck was, it was hurtful. But he was still Bartholomew, the tiny duck who can’t fly, who loves potato soup and sitting by the fire listening to Technoblade talk about his most recent conversation with Phil. It was still his little duckie he had knitted hats for, that rode on his shoulder and loved snuggling into his neck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why didn’t you kill me?” He wondered, laying down and looking at the ceiling. “You had your chance, so… why remain hidden?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because he grew to care for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sam and Phil returned, Sam having seen Technoblade enter the house and rushing back. Seeing the Piglin, next to his son, all viciousness nowhere to be seen, she smiled gently before shaking his head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you save him?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, but I know he won't die, not fully. I can promise you that, Sam… When he awakens, find me. I want to fight Dream with him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? Why?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s still my little duck friend.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. The Totem Ring</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>We are drawing to an end on this book, I have the ending set planned, and only a few chapters left in mind till this adventure ends.</p>
<p>Quackity loses three lives, but a gift keeps him alive, yet back where he started.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>WARNING: Character Death! Quackity loses lives, two are kinda explicit in a way. If this unsettles you, skip the portion starting at 'The second death was worse' and continue at 'Puffy fell asleep."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Whatever hit him with that arrow, it’s a damn strong one. It’ll drain all three lives from Alexis.. Sam, he isn’t going to survive.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The warden lifted his head up to stare at the girl, eyes red and puffy as he simply held himself together by a string. What brought him out of wallowing in self pity was a knock at the door, then someone rushing towards him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>George flung himself down into his father’s arms, burying his face into the other’s neck and sobbing. They were a pitiful sight, a broken family as the youngest lay dying in the room over, just out of view as Sam’s childhood friend stared at him in sadness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The noise scared them, hearing the sound of a totem being used, emerald light filling the room the young man lay in, bright enough to blind them, followed by the sound of a revival, and panting. Sam was on his feet in seconds, running forwards and throwing the door all the way open. His son, still unconscious lay in the bed, sparkles of the totem used still glittering around him as he tried to take in breath before falling back into a silent slumber with death. One life down, two to go.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They wondered where the totem had been, who had given it to him, and how it went unnoticed. Puffy had an idea, but she didn’t want to voice it until she was sure Quackity would be okay. The second death was worse.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rasping filled the room as they could do nothing but watch as nimble fingers perfect for preening grasped at their owner’s throat, digging into the skin and pulling, trying to get air as his face turned purple, eyes blown wide yet not awake. They could do nothing for five long minutes until the last of the dying bird’s energy was gone and he slumped back down, another life taken as those emerald particles surrounded him once again, throat covered in ugly red marks by his own hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The third one broke Sam, hearing his son actually cry out in pain as he coughed and spluttered, choking on his own blood, red painted his clothes and chin. To hear his little boy cry in unspoken pleas for help, he had to leave the house. He ended up staying outside for the remainder of the night, not wanting to face the cold corpse that lay in that bed, sheets ruined and eyes dull, the only good eye staring up at the ceiling, just as blank and his blind one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Puffy fell asleep at her table, beginning to wonder if there even was a totem used, and if it had even worked, for the boy looked just as sickly as before, and now he was cold, stiff, and empty. She wanted to prepare a grave by the water, Sam telling her that Alex always loved the ocean breeze and waves licking at his feet, inviting him in to play and laugh, washing over him and taking away his stress and painful memories. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She was awoken by the sound of shuffling, stiff joints carrying a weak body as they stumbled into the kitchen and nearly collapsed. Puffy wasn’t exactly aware of what was going on, still half asleep as she stared at the walking corpse of a human, wings tucked stiffly against their back, feathers in desperate need of preening.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His eye is what caught her attention. Honey gold in the dim light as he stared, the other a milky grey with the grotesque scar cutting through it messily. On his finger was a golden ring, the jewel cracked and dark, it’s magic used. Technoblade came through, keeping the duck alive, but just barely. Yet even despite still being on the verge of death, he wanted revenge. Dream was going to die, and he would be the killer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexis stared at Puffy, silently taking her in before turning to where Tubbo, Karl, and Sapnap slept on the couch and George on the floor, each looking like they hadn’t slept a day in their life. His eye then traveled to where Sam could just barely be seen, his head poking up above the window sill as he slept, passed out against the brick wall of the home.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where is he?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Puffy didn’t have to ask who the boy was talking about, already knowing by the way he looked at the ring, at the words carved into it by unsteady yet tender hands that have saved his life countless times in the past. Now he was his only hope of taking the enemy down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know where he is waiting for you. Will you talk to Sam before you go?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I don’t think I could go through with what needs to be done if I do.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He would stop you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know… He’s always looking out for me, even when I betray him. Tell him I love him, if I don’t return..”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ll return, you can never stay gone for too long, boy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know about this one, Captain.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ll see, good luck, Alexis.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tell them I love them.” He whispered, looking at Tubbo and the others on the couch, eyes softening as he stared at his son and friends, and his brother too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Go, before they rise.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He left with nothing more than the bag on his back, the supplies inside of it and the winter clothes he wore, all the supplies given to him by the Captain, kissing his father’s head as he left, setting off for the snowy area that he had fled to what felt like years ago. Was that really only about six months? Or was it longer or shorter? It feels like a lifetime.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Standing at the edge of the snowy tundra, he pulled the large coat Puffy gave him tighter around his body, trekking onwards. It was like deja vu, weak yet determined, the only difference was that he was prepared for the cold this time, food, potions, and weapons in his bag to help him make it to the house of his.. Friend.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Were they friends? Maybe.. He did save Alex from certain death multiple times. God, he truly owed that man his life. They had a lot to talk about when they met again, this time neither of them hiding in forms that little to no one would know who they were.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The walk seemed so short, but he soon found himself knocking on a door of the house he grew to call his own. An older man opened the door, peering out at him and retracting his wings to allow Quackity into the house, smiling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You found the message.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How could I not?” He asked, lifting his hand up to stare at the ring, reading the words on it that had guided his actions that led him back to this house.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“My fire is always lit, little duck.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. The Plan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Two more chapters after this. Our story is coming to a close. Quackity is finally facing his demons head on. Aslo, final scenes like with Schlatt in this are my weak point, fight scenes are my weak point so forgive me for some stiffness.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Alex sat by the fire, warming his wings as the ice melted off, a mug of hot tea clutching tightly in his hands. He didn’t think he’d be back here. Nor did he realize how much he missed the familiarity of the house, not much had changed, except the hats Technoblade had made were set on display where the smaller man once slept next to the fire, enchanted to not burn.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looked up as Technoblade entered the house, Phil close behind as they both sat themselves down in the chairs in front of the duck hybrid, staring at him as they got settled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, You know why we’re here, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Cause Dream’s a manipulative piece of shit that needs to be taken down?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hah!” Phil barked out a laugh, shaking his head in amusement. “Basically, mate.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, what’s the plan?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can log on and off this plane of existence, disappear to the inbetween of realms, it’s the power of admins. You can also overthrow Dream if we weaken him enough, transfer ownership of the SMP to yourself.” Technoblade explains,pulling out the book he had gotten from a very.. Foolish.. Man. It was a book about the power of Admins, who were gods in a sense. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You have another form, like Dream XD, y-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Quackity HQ.” He said quickly, having already known the name of his god self ever since he had been promoted to the status.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes… Quackity HQ is your tie to this world, keeping you from dying if you log off. HE logs on in your place and keeps your body functioning, dormant, until you are able to return.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why does this matter?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because Dream XD is in charge right now. Dream logged off shortly after you went into the state between life and death.. Again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What can I say? Death is attracted to me, they want my rocking hot body in the underworld!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When neither laughed, he frowned and slumped back down. “It’s cause Schlatt has damaged me and made me subsectical to injury, small things hurt me greatly.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s been haunting me, since you found me in the storm the second time, so long ago.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It was four months ago.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry??”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Four months.. I found you five months ago, give or take, you left and nearly died the first time about four months ago.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“O-only four?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Boys, back on topic.” Phil chided, sipping his drink before sliding onto the ground to preen Quackity’s wings for him, remaining gentle the entire time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘RIght. We need you to log off, fight Dream, and stay off once he logs back on. Time flows differently there, we don’t know how though, what could be five minutes to you could be a year to us. There will be other admins from other worlds. Do not talk, do not join. Find Dream, attack him, drive him back here, and we will stop him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, but there’s one thing I need to do, one thing I learned that I can do from Dream.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He stood up, pulling his communicator screen up and clicking the ‘Admin Controls’ option, scrolling through until he settled on something, a few more taps and he turned to stare over his shoulder at what was thin air, but a ram hybrid to himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wasn’t asleep, watch ram. I heard you two, Admins have so much power, like.. Banning the dead.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“QUACKITY!” Schlatt suddenly yelled, flickering into view as the ghost lunged at his former husband, hand glitching out and dissolving into lines of code the instant he touched him</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry… But my family is more important than an abusive drunk ass excuse for a man that calls himself a husband and lies about loving me. I know what love is, love is welcoming back your child even when they do the unspeakable, love is gentle, and soothing. Love is like watching MY son play around with Fundy, supporting my two best friends as they work towards their wedding. You are not the definition of love, or ever will be. Goodbye.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He clicked the final button, Schlatt fading as red crossed his vision in ribbons screaming ‘BANNED FOR ABUSE OF POWER’ flashed in his mind, the world turning black.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Holy shit mate, remind me to never piss you off.” Phil whispered to Quackity, chuckling out of nervousness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexis was silent, simply taking a moment to revel in the power he felt. “Goodbye, bitch.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Technoblade waited until the duck turned to face him, smiling as he trained his good eye on the other, a new fire in them, finally and truly free from the cage, now to escape to pure freedom. Getting rid of Dream was all that was left. He reached out and suddenly yanked Quackity into a hug, feeling the duck’s wings spread to try and wrap around him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You are so fucking stupid, why didn’t you do that earlier?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe cause I was in the process of DYING three times in a row?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He has a point, mate.” Phil said gently, laughing at the annoyed acceptance on the Piglin’s face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whatever, back on track. You, Dream, Void, big fight.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Send Dream back here to finish him off and take ownership of the server, banish Dream and stasy in the void until it is safe, but be careful because Void time and SMP time is different.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes. Can you do it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Will my family be safe?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“As safe as we can keep them until things are better. Do you know how to log off?” Phil asked as Quackity nodded. He looked at the two of them, suddenly nervous.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What if I never see any of you again?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well you better, mate, I still gotta teach you to fly!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can’t even avoid me when you’re fleeing for your life, Alex. You really think you won’t have to ever deal with us again? Life would be boring.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He laughed, allowing himself to be dragged into a hug and felt Techno bump their heads together, his way of affection. Quackity gently reached out and began to run his hands through the other’s hair, as if preening them for him. They both had their own way of showing affection, and Quackity felt something drop onto his head, beanie being tugged on. When he pulled back, the crown dropped onto his head, covered his eyes and made him blink, watching Technoblade slip the beanie onto his own head, making them laugh at the strange way he looked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m keeping this until you get back. So that you are forced to return to me, to get it back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Heh, okay, okay, just don’t ruin that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, one more thing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That crown will keep you alive, so don’t lose it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Like the ring?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Exactly.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looked at him, nodding before walking to the corner of the room and pulling the admin panel up, hand hovering over the log off button, looking at Technoblade and giving him that weird little quack he had become so known for. His hand touched the button and he stiffened a dark blue glow surrounding him as he slumped against the wall. A mask fades into existence, the weird face like a pixel version of a smile, similar to Dream’s mask, his clothes transformed from a simple coat and stuff to robes dipped in jewels and chains, a pair of ram horns adorning the mask he wore, also dipped in jewels and gold as he straightened up. His wings spread behind him, spanning the length of the house and glittering in the light, golden clasps, wings shining like literal gold and honey.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello there, Philza, Technoblade. I am Quackity HQ.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. The Void Fight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Final battle, battle scenes are stiff for me, but heyyyy, other SMPs are here now. Tomorrow will be the final update other than an alternating ending for one chapter that I have.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was dark and cold in the void, like all the light had been sucked out of the world, yet Quackity could clearly see the other people in there, a man with goggles on his head looked over and waved, but he turned away, shielding himself from view with his wings. His wings.. They were larger, almost as big as Phil’s. Slowly, he spread them, staring in amazement at his enlarged appendages.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A voice behind him drew the man from his thoughts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You followed me, Mrs. Admin.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He turned, facing Dream and narrowing his eyes. Feeling anger bubble up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You.. You bastard! I trusted you, Dream! I thought you were different from Schlatt!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aww, is my duckling sad? Baby… you have to understand, I was trying to make them think you died so they wouldn’t bother us. Technoblade is the true enemy here! I know what you did to Schlatt, or what I did. You really think you’re strong enough to get rid of him, I helped! I helped you! I always have! Come on, let us log on together and we can rule the world.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t want to rule the world, I never have.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? Then what did you want!?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My family, a happy life as a tiny little duck.. I want my father to be proud but what I did wasn’t.. It wasn't right, Dream! None of this.” He motioned to where fellow admins and world owners stood, watching the happening of the Dream SMP Admins. “This isn’t what I wanted, nor is it what I deserve! I deserve to be locked up, to never see the light of day again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He came for me, when Puffy found me, Dad came! He came and he cried on my bedside and I wasn’t able to comfort him, I couldn’t tell him I was okay because I couldn’t wake myself up and that hurt! I don’t want to hurt my dad like that! I want to hurt you!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He suddenly lunged, an axe appearing in his hand, intricate jewels and designs carved into it, netherite glittering as people screamed and fled. The axe lodged into Dream’s mask as he flung it off, revealing his face, contorted in fury as a hand was swiftly raised, unseen forces grabbing on his wings and tugging on them, trying to rip him apart at the seams. QUackity screamed in pain, struggling to get free from the grip.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was no way he would win, Dream was a god and he was a mere mortal compared to him. There’s no way he can take Dream on in his own realm of other gods. He would die. Or so he thought. Suddenly a diamond sword slashed at Dream, and the unseen force disappeared, dropping him back to the ground as he drew his wings close, tucking them against his back tightly. He looked up, spotting the man with goggles holding a hand out to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, sorry, you looked like you needed help kid!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“W-who are you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Name’s Dan, I’m a fellow Admin, I’m part of Shady Oaks SMP, a bunch of us older folks are there. Now come on, looks like you got a fight on your hands, lucky for you, this guy knows a thing or two!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.. Yeah, let’s fight!” He grinned, grabbing his hand and getting pulled up, feeling his axe come flying back as he reached out a hand and snatched it from the air as a new person joined them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey Squid! Nice of ya to join me, this kid needs some help. Seems like the owner of his world has gone corrupt.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The squid hybrid nods, readying his sword as Dream stared at them. Suddenly, Dan lunged forward, sword in his hand again as he slashed at Dream again, making him hop back as Squid countered from behind. Blades clash and metal clanging rings out the now empty void, everyone else logging on to escape the fight.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity forced his wings to flap, propelling himself unsteadily into the air before plummeting, going into s dive at Dream, who was too focused on the other men to stop him. He collided with Dream, the shock shaking him to his core as they went rolling on the ground, fists and kicks being thrown at each other, both screaming things as Dan rushed to help pin the dreamon down. Squid grabbed one arm as Dan grabbed the other, allowing Quackity to summon a sword, holding it above himself, tip pressing against his enemies chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The world isn’t yours anymore Dream, we’re on to a new era, a new plot.. A new ruler of the SMP.” He told him, driving the sword into his chest, feeling the power in Dream drain out of him, up through the sword, and into himself, wings spreading as dark blue electricity covered him and Dream’s body disappeared with the word’s ‘Dream has joined the game.’ and ‘Dream has handed ownership of the Dream SMP over to ‘Quackity’’. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He dropped onto his side, the energy overwhelming to handle for a minute as Dan and Squid helped him sit up, both of them grinning.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“W-what??”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Welcome to the ownership club! You doing okay? Becoming the official god of a world is kind of draining.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m fine.. Can’t wait to get rid of it.” He replied, standing up and walking towards a fallen crown, picking it up and noticing that two jewels on it were broken. Realization hit him. This is how Technoblade survived the execution, why he refused to part with the crown.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s made of totems… of course, that smart fucking bastard.” He whispered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait,” Dan called out, walking over and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Why are you getting rid of ownership?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m no leader. I’m a 20 year old man who wants to study law, and I have a friend to get back to, he has my beanie, and besides.. I know someone who deserves ownership way more than I do.” He told Dan, drawing his wings forwards and looking at the damage. He began to fix feathers, patting down and drawing bandages out of his pocket, tending to his injured wings.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He gave up quickly.. Why?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dream prefers to run when he knows he can’t win.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So.. You’re heading back?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.. not yet. I’ll know when to go home, but I am not to return until he is gone for good. You said you were an admin of Shady Oaks? Can I go see that world?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, Squid?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looked up, nodding quickly and pulling up the command center, typing in Quackity’s name to give him the invite to the new world.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Let’s have some adventures while you wait to go home!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure. I’d love to meet other SMPs.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Their Happily Ever After</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Quackity returns home, and adjusts to life again, but maybe there are still some things that need answering, just not in this story.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Three years in the Dream SMP seems like such a short time in the void, passing by in three months. Three months spent running with Dan, who he learned is a diamond hybrid like Skeppy, and Squid. Like meeting Stampy, or a really nice girl named Lauren. Three months going and chatting with those of other SMPs and making new friends, establishing connections. But his time in the void was drawing to a close as he walked up to Dan, who had grown close to him, like a brother.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One look at his face said it all, and Dan felt pain shoot through his heart as he saw the backpack on Quackity’s shoulders, accepting what was about to be said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re going back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Y-yeah.. It’s time.. He’s gone for good, it’s time to hand ownership back to who truly deserves it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And who is that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A guy named Sam.. the greatest father you can ever meet.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Will you come back? This place will feel emptier without you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe.. But I have a lot to do back in my world before I can come back. Give me about a month.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Goodbye, Alex.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bye, Danny.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>He jolted up in bed, gasping gently as air filled his lungs again. His hair was somewhat longer, but he seemed mostly the same. Mostly. Alex stood up from the bed, recognizing the stone walls of Sam’s hidden base. The boy walked on shaky legs towards the door and slowly pushed it open, wings tucked tightly against his back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The base looked the exact same with only a few differences. There were more redstone contraptions, and the place looked lived in again, like Sam had stopped staying at the prison at all times. Speaking of which, where was Sam? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As if to answer his question, the stone walls of the entrance began to grind together, lowering into the ground and revealing a man out of breath, as if he had run there. Sam looked up, spotting the duck hybrid and nearly began to sob, already rushing forwards. Quackity met him halfway with an overjoyed trill, throwing himself into his father’s arms, wings suddenly shooting up and spanning the length of the walls. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Papi! I’ve missed you!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My little duckling! You have no idea how happy I am to see you! How long has it been for you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Three months! Why?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s been three years.. Techno told me time worked differently but.. That’s not important. You’re back, and that’s what is important!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dad, is he actua-” George stopped in the entrance, looking at Quackity in shock, tears welling up as he saw his little brother.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once again, Alex found himself being yanked into a hug, face burying itself into his brother’s neck as he stood there.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re wings, they’re so much larger now… is it an effect of HQ?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They spent the next couple hours catching up on what’s happened. How Dream is officially dead and gone, forever stuck in the ether with Schlatt. How the egg is being torn apart, and those affected are getting help, Bad and Skeppy sent into a rehabilitation course overseen by Puffy, Tubbo getting into a platonic marriage with Ranboo and adopting a young Piglin named Michael, the Boo and Bee hotel, everything. So much happened while Quackity was gone, yet he had his own adventures.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He told Sam of Dan, the diamond hybrid he had befriended, and the world of Shady Oaks, how they were a world similar to his own. He joked about Phil belonging there because of his age, and told them of the other hybrids he had met.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the afternoon rolled around, Quackity stood, George passed out on the couch and Sam now fixing them some lunch.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dad? I’m going to go find Tubbo. I want to meet my grandson, Michael.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Be back for dinner, Technoblade and Philza are coming over.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Travelling was easy, him getting used to getting places quickly with gliding, and that's exactly what he did, gliding down to where the platonic family sat, Ranboo squinting up at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Phil?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hah! Nope, I ain’t centuries old!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“DAD!” Tubbo squealed, hopping up to hug him as Alex landed, tackling him to the snow as his son ran over, staring at Quackity.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Papa friend?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, this is Papa’s father, Quackity!” Ranboo explained to Michael, who was lightly petting Quackity’s wings.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Duckie!!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’m a duck hybrid kiddo, it’s wonderful to meet you!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They spoke for a while, Tubbo trying not to cry as he stayed glued to his father’s side, always hugging him and bumping his head against his side. But he knew he’d have to leave soon if he wanted to meet Sapnap and Karl before it was too late.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I gotta go, but I’ll be back soon!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love you, dad.” Tubbo told him, receiving a large hug and a forehead kiss. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Love ya too kiddo.”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Sapnap and Karl were lounging in their home, hands intertwined as a knock on the door interrupted the peaceful silence. Karl detangles himself from his husband and walks to the door, pulling it open and peering out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On the other side of the door, a boy with long elegant wings stood there, turning golden in the sun, smiling gently as he pulled the crown on his head up to look at Karl, dark black hair and tan skin standing out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Hey, cutie~" The man whispered, receiving a loud screech and feeling himself get yanked into the house as Sapnap came running.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he saw the young Mexican, his eyes widened as he pulled him tightly into a hug, face burying into his neck. Karl hugged him from behind, the two of them sobbing in joy at their long lost friend finally coming home. Alex allowed himself to relax in their grip, dropping his head onto Sapnap's shoulder as they all fell to their knees. The three sat there for a while until Sapnap mumbled into his neck, words inaudible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Marry us."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Heh!?" Alex cried out, sounding like a higher pitched Technoblade as he pulled back to look between Sapnap and Karl.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Marry us, please. We've waited three years to ask you. You aren’t getting rid of us again, you’re gonna be stuck with us!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was in shock, looking between the two men, tears welling up in his eyes. Alex had no clue the lovers felt that way about him, but he certainly wasn't complaining as he pressed his forehead against Sapnap's, feeling Karl press closer to him from behind, beginning to cry.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes, yes I'll marry you two dumbasses."</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Techno stood outside the base hidden in the mountain, looking to the side at Phil. Clasped tightly in his hand was a dark blue beanie. He sighed, steeling his nerves and tilling the ground, watching the stone sink into the ground as they stepped inside, Sam waiting on the other side.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They exchanged hellos and greetings, Technoblade leaving Sam and Phil to wander farther into the base and to the room that he heard voices coming from. Stepping inside, he was greeted by four faces turning to look at him, the one in the middle lighting up with joy as he squirmed out of his new fiance's grips and said a quick word to them and his brother and stepped out, shutting the door.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Hi."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Hey... I've missed you, duckie."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Heh, missed you too, Tech."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Wanna trade?" He asked, holding out the beanie and pointing to the crown Alex had on.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity blinked before realizing that it was his own beanie Technoblade was holding, snatching it from him with an excited squeal and pulling the crown off, handing it over to Technoblade. They both put the stuff on, Alex tucking his hair into it as Techno straightened his crown. The two dissolved into laughter over seemingly nothing as Quackity dragged the Piglin into a hug, arms wrapping around his neck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I've missed you, Bartholomew."</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>After dinner, Phil brought Alex outside to examine his wings, preening them together before climbing into a tree to sit and talk. They spoke about random things from flying to gliding to how Quackity's first day back was beyond eventful.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You want to fly?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What, old man?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Do you want to fly?" Phil repeated, raising an eyebrow at the boy who wasn't paying attention as he stood and slipped behind him carefully. "I can teach you."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Really? What's first!?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Falling." He shoved hard on Alex sending him soaring to the ground with a shout, arms and wings flapping as he was able to stay afloat for a few minutes before crashing to the ground.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Phil fell out of the tree laughing, wings spread to catch him as he soared to the ground, landing by him and helping the younger avian up. "I told you, falling. That's the first step!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"God dammit old man, you better run and pray I don't catch you!" Quackity screamed, shooting after him as he took off in the air, staying low enough for Alex to truly catch him if he tried.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>That night, curled against Karl and Sapnap, Technoblade in the bed across the room, he slowly detangles himself and walks over, crawling onto the Piglin's bed and shifting into a small duck, curling against his neck as the other stirred.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Heh? Oh.. heh, sleep well, Quackity." Technoblade muttered sleepily as he drifted off again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This is what true happiness was. If only he had seen that earlier.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Another year passed as Alex entered the void with Sam, HQ and the new god, AweSamDude holding their places. They wandered the void until they met with a man made of diamonds, who yanked Quackity into the hug. And maybe Quackity invited the members of Shady Oaks to his wedding.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe he found himself dissolving into giggles as he saw Technoblade in a suit after agreeing to be the duck’s best man. Maybe Sam cried as he walked his son down the aisle, maybe Tubbo’s gift to them were adoption papers for Sapnap and Karl to sign.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe, just maybe, Quackity’s life was finally perfect.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“Hey Tech?” Quackity asked, visiting his friend for the holidays, Sapnap and Karl passed out on the couch as the two hybrids sipped hot chocolate, snuggled against each other.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hm?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What did HQ do while I was in the void?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Technoblade snorts, remembering the formal yet rambunctious god that wandered their world for three years.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s a story for another time, Bartholomew.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Alternate Ending to Chapter 16/18: Almost Caught</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alternate ending to after the death of sam and the watch-ram chapter.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This is the deleted ending to the fleeing chapter, before the betrayl and after Sam is killed. I scrapped the idea because I wanted the fleeing arc to be the second to last one, and I wanted a different role for Puffy in this story. I also bring news of two spin offs for this series: The Admins - a little thing that will expand and explain on the relationship hinted at between Quackity and Dream, and My Three Years Walking The Earth, a 6-part story featuring Quackity HQ. Each part will be about HQ's interactions with people close to Quackity, and every two parts is one year. Now, on to the deleted ending. Another reason I scrapped this is because it felt stiff and I didn't like the way it looked, I wanted some more Schlatt dickery in there, and to give more of Dream being a good guy just to make his betrayal hurt more.</p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Stand up and face me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Heh, no can do, I’m not waking my little birdie up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He is not yours, Dream. What have you done to manipulate him?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing, Puffy. He offered ME freedom, I didn’t want anything, I said nothing to him. Now please, I will never reveal this if you let us go, Quackity is in no shape to be transported back anywhere. Please, Puffy, just let me take care of him. Lead them off our trail. We can help you, defeat the Egg, unless you want it to take over the SMP.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Puffy stared at them, slowly lowering her sword as her eyes landed on the Duck, taking in his condition. His clothes were now dirty and torn from fleeing the Badlands, ankle swollen to the point he didn’t seem able to walk, and wings just freshly preened by Dream himself. Then she saw the bags under his eyes, the paleness of his skin. Their commotion caused him to stir, blinking open dull golden eyes and lifting his head to stare at her, feeling terror swell up, stiffening as he pressed closer to Dream.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her heart broke, seeing how bad he looked and she sighed, sheathing her sword and lowering her head. “I am not doing this for you, Dream. Or you, Quackity. I am doing this Sam, because I know he will not handle seeing his son like this. This is the only time I let traitors walk free, so you best feel lucky. I’ll go now, lead them astray, but I need your tracker Quackity.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My tracker?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The one Schlatt gave you, that's how we found you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quackity pulled the compass out, his ten times more elegant than the others as he handed it over, letting her take it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“P-Puffy!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She turned back, cocking her head to the side as Alex took a deep breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tell my father I love him, and that I’m sorry, but I had to do it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I will.” She promised, nodding her head at him and disappearing back into the woods she came from, Quackity laying his head back down as sleep overtakes him once more.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dream held him close, sighing as he let himself slowly drift to sleep as well, fear making him a light sleeper and always aware of his surroundings.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
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